


A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, On The Tour

by roxymissrose



Category: SV - Fandom
Genre: Crack, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-01
Updated: 2012-07-25
Packaged: 2017-11-08 22:17:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 55,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/448136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roxymissrose/pseuds/roxymissrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little bit of this, a little bit of that and stirred into a totally self-indulgent stew. This is just for fun! Also, this contains bits of nearly every SF story I've ever read. </p><p>originally posted in 2007</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Part One : Rao Smiles**

Jor-El left the Hall of Science in a good mood. So good a mood in fact that all day, he'd spontaneously burst into little snatches of song, to the point that his assistants began looking at him 'that way', especially when he'd whirled his secretary into an impromptu dance. He'd always been considered odd, so his staff simply endured his occasional outbursts of frivolity.

In fact, his particular branch of the El family had always been thought of as eccentric. The other branch were the ruling family of Krypton, not his branch, "The other Els" had always been prominent in the sciences. Holidays were always an interesting affair for the Els. Who else could get away with calling The Supreme Commander and Hammer of Justice his Royal Highness Kar-El, Shnoogie?

This especially fine day brought Jor-El so much pleasure because this day was the long hoped for day his beloved offspring, the marvelous fruit of his union, had shown himself to be pleasing to Rao in all ways, and was now a free man. He'd passed every exam at every quarter, excelled even. He passed all physical trials, all tests of intelligence, of esthetics, was deemed sufficiently within parameters of Kryptonian standards that he was finally considered worthy of Krypton society—he was at long last, a full member—a true Citizen of Krypton. Unlike those who'd failed in some way, lack of intelligence, lack of physical stamina, lack of beauty—all an insult to Rao, who graced every Kryptonian at birth with a perfect vessel with which to worship him. Those who failed were invited to join the House Of Sleep, where in a dream of all their most desired fantasies they passed beyond sleep, beyond the Dark Veil. Kryptonians were known for their compassion, even to those who failed to meet their standards.

They were known as compassionate beings on every one of the hundreds of planets that they'd conquered, and ruled with an iron fist. Compassionately, of course.

 

And now, their beloved Birdie had passed over the threshold into adulthood. What a joy for Lara-El and himself to finally be able to put aside forever clothes of mourning—they'd never have to entertain the frightening possibility that their little bird would have to be put down. He would now be able to add their little bird's name to the house, they now Jor-El, Lara-El and Kal-El, House of El.

Jor-El climbed aboard the public transport, smiling at one and all. A few inclined their heads but most ignored him. No matter. His joy was sufficient for everyone on the tube. His body servant, Frank, held bags filled with Kal-El's favorite drink, food, flowers and even clothing, everything he loved. Jor-El was thrilled to spoil him--he and Lara had never been able to keep the required emotional distance from Kal—no one in the family could. There was just something about him, something that reached out and captured hearts…'

Jor-El was jostled out of his thoughts by the shoving, pushing crowd of Citizens and workers as he exited the tube in their home court, flowers losing petals as Frank did his best to protect the bags.

"See, Frank? Wasn't it a lovely idea to take public transport? Get to know the people, Frank, interact with the common man. That's what keeps us humble and human, my friend."

Frank dodged an elderly Citizen tailed his struggling dogrobot, groaning under a towering pile of packages. "Asshole," the old man mumbled, as he elbowed Frank, and the dogrobot sneered at them, stuck his tongue out at Frank. It lolled out in a disconcerting way, and slurped back into it's mouth with a loud liquid smack.

Frank grimaced and "Yes, Gentle Sir," he muttered in reply. Jor-El wasn't the one carrying a thousand overstuffed bags.

"Homeward, Frank," he sang out. "Homeward to the House of El!"

Frank rolled his eyes and shifted the bags, tried to avoid looking at eye-wateringly bright clothing. "Yes, Sir. Home, Sir."

~o0o~

Lara met him at the gateway, smiling wide, so excited that bright spots of red made her cheeks appear that much more inviting, her green eyes danced. "Oh, Birdie's going to be so happy!"

She rushed up and kissed his cheek, and patted it, before gesturing imperiously. "Frank, Frank, make sure you put the perishables in the preserver—and put the flowers on the dining room table, won't you."

"Yes, Madame, thank you," Frank dipped his head. "I do so much enjoy being told the obvious daily," he muttered, bowing deeply before he walked away.

They passed the house wall, and stopped in the doorway garden. The vines over the arbor that shaded the entrance grew so thickly the light there was faintly green, and the small flowers sprinkled through the runners perfumed the air and welcomed visitors to the El household. They stopped on the threshold and gave thanks for returning home safely before bustling inside.

With the help of their servants, they made short work of emptying the bags and setting up a beautiful meal for their beloved son in the open courtyard. The majority of their household servants were catrobots, well known for their grace and esthetic sense, and the couches draped with silk, and the tables covered with shimmering fabric and bowls of jewel bright fruit were as esthetically pleasing as the servants themselves. After all, every Citizen and worker learned from childhood, what was pleasing to the senses was pleasing to Rao.

Kal-El's parents looked about themselves critically, and satisfied, Jor-El called out for his son, "Birdie! Birdie! Come join your mother and me."

A pained howl made its way down to the garden level. "Mo-om! Make him stop!"

"Really dear," Lara-El scolded. "He is eighteen—a man, and no man likes to be called a child's name, after all."

Jor-El frowned and picked through the sliced fruits on a tray in front of him, chose a bright blue piece of fruit and shoved it in his mouth. "What's wrong with Birdie? Shnoogie doesn’t mind being called Shnoogie, and he's a grown man…and Emperor and Hammer of Justice and all those other titles the poor thing has to drag around…"

"Well, that's him." Her expression seemed to say, _and you know he's a few loaves shy of a pastry shop._ With her thumb, she wiped blue juice from the corner of Jor's mouth. "You know sensitive Kal is." He rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Oh for—Kal-El! Come see what we have for you!" Typical of the El household, his brief flash of annoyance was gone; his smile was like the emergence of the sun after a brief summer squall. Lara smiled at him gently, pleased.

They both turned at the sound of footsteps on the stair, the sound of a stumble, of a large body hitting the wall, and an annoyed voice yelling "krell!" and then Birdie—Kal-El shouted, "Sorry, Mother—I'll buy you a new vase, promise."

Jor-El shrugged. "Let us thank great Rao profusely for our good fortune and question not His mysterious ways. The boy passed, that's all that matters. Vases and carpets and stair treads and furniture and good china can be replaced."

_crash_

"And windows…"

~o0o~

Dinner was very nice. Kal-El was so happy that his parents were happy. He was hugely relieved that he'd never have to take another exam in his life, that he'd never again have to see the worried lost look in his parent's eyes—he was a Citizen finally—free and clear. And of course, totally and completely grateful to be alive….

He stood at the head of the table, and breathed in deeply—he savored the scent of his mother's flowers, the vines that circled the garden, the smell of earth and sun, the fruit and sweets waiting for them. He laughed out loud, arms spread and mouth wide. He deserved this joy. Now for the first time ever in his young life—he was free, safe—alive! After he received his personal shield, nothing could hurt him—not even his own astronomical clumsiness. He really was sorry about tripping over Frank like that….

He hugged and kissed his mother and his father and wished them a long and prosperous life and they experienced another first--they were able to wish him the same, and with tears in their eyes, they took great pleasure in doing so.

Wiping tears from his eyes, Jor took Kal by the shoulder. "Tomorrow, we'll take you to get your AI interface, and your personal field. What a wonderful day it will be," his father enthused. "The thrill of being fitted for your first field, to hear the great mind without anything between you and its wisdom--I envy you, Son."

Kal-El smiled and nodded and prayed to all-knowing Rao that Dad wasn't about to launch into one of his long meandering tales about his childhood, or the day he got his interface…and in answer to his prayer--All Thanks To Rao--just as Dad was winding up, Grand-dad came in.

Frank announced the General in a long suffering tone of voice, and was pushed stumbling to one side as the man descended on them. Grand-dad didn’t walk anywhere; he kind of sailed in like a hyperspace cruiser and conquered whatever space he entered.

"Kalo, Kal, my boy! Give your Grand-dad Kent a kiss and tell me—what next, young El? What service to Krypton have you chosen? Dare I hope you'll follow in your Grand's footsteps?"

Grand-dad was a big man, easily as big as Jor-El, and he had a full hair of crystal white hair, and eyes as bright and blue as the arctic sky. He was impressive, Grand-dad was, and Kal admired him, sometimes wanted to be like him. Sometimes. But wanting to be like Grand-dad didn't exempt him from teasing the man—it was an unfortunate genetic trait of the Els, or so his mother claimed. "I chose the sexwork field, Grand! I'm going to be a Greeter at the local Greeter's Hall. I've been practicing!"

Grand-dad paled somewhat, and Kal bit his lip, fought to keep from laughing out loud.

Ah, well…my boy, that's--that's…nice…I'm sure you'll be the very best Greeter--" his voice took on a strangled quality at that point, but he went on, "The best as befits the House of El. Oh dear," he muttered.

"Kal-El! Stop teasing at once!" His mother frowned. "Tell Grand-dad what you really plan to do, wicked boy."

Kal smiled, "I'm sorry Grand-dad. Actually, I want to take The Tour, and after—well, I have two applications—one for government work, and one for Justice Service. I hope that by the end of the Tour, I'll know which one to choose."

For a young man of Kal-El's social standing, government work meant serving at court, or taking over the running of one of his Gracious Majesty's many domains. And Justice Service wouldn't involve boot-camp, short rations and coffin sized quarters, not for the cousin of the emperor of Krypton and The Free Homeworlds of the Dominion. It meant at the least a command of his own, and a herd of battle tested slaves at his side. However, since he was the grandson of Lor-Van, Commander and Gracious Supreme Majesty's Hammer of Justice and many times over decorated wars hero, Kal had no doubt he'd start out on some freezing red-sunned mud-ball, orbs deep in shit….

"The Tour is a grand way for young men and women to see just how great is Krypton. You'll be able to see first hand the good we bring to our less fortunate members of the galaxy."

Grand-dad sat, held out a goblet and shook it. A young catrobot trotted over to fill it, bowing deeply. Kal felt just a twinge, a momentary feeling of strangeness. He'd played with the cat when he was young, it seemed wrong somehow, to sit here and let Rwrzft wait on them and practically insult him as he did. He knew what a smart guy he was, not to mention very pretty…he dropped his eyes and blushed hot and red, and shoved a few slices of fruit in his mouth. It was against the law for adults to 'socialize' with the 'robots'. Kal's lips turned down, a tiny moue of rebellion. It was a stupid law, Rwrzft was as human and warm blooded and stuff as he was—so what if he had a beautiful tail, and delicate retractable claws and the cutest hint of vestigial whiskers and big gold eyes with jet black slices of pupil that made Kal's blood hot on the rare occasion he looked directly into Kal's green eyes?

It wasn't right, that he was considered less than, just because he started embryonic life as a kitten, just because he was decanted from a different kind of vat than Kal was…he looked up again. Grand-dad was talking about Service, and Father was trying to keep his eyes open—Kal knew the feeling—and the catrobot boy was staring at him, in the way robots had, a look that never met the eyes but nevertheless…Kal felt the heat of his gaze.

Oh dear. If only. If only he could.

Rwrzft passed his chair and hidden by the table cloth, his tail briefly wrapped around Kal-El's ankle and slipped away.


	2. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, Strangers are Friends We have Not Yet Met

The Tour. A young Kryptonian, finally declared a citizen, had many options—a great many of them chose the Tour as a way to familiarize themselves with Krypton's many worlds, the way they were governed, what role they were expected to play in the great scheme of the Grand Dominion, and most importantly of course, to sample the tremendous variety of mind-altering drugs each different culture and race had to offer. And of course, sex. Lots and lots of alien ass. After all, as the saying went, what occurred on the surface of alien worlds or on the decks of non-Kryptonian space stations, remained on alien worlds or non- Kryptonian space stations. 

Citizens occupied a unique niche in the universe. Wherever they went, they were automatically treated with deference—obsequious deference. If not, the offending subject went to Hell. Hell was a place designed to instruct non citizens and workers on how best to serve Citizens. Instruction, not torture. Kryptonians didn’t torture. Of course, in Hell, war was peace, freedom was slavery, so forth and so on….

Time in Hell depended on the crime, on the whim of the Hell Master, on how bored the techs were that particular day, or how displeased they were with what basically amounted to exile in their minds. Hells were staffed only by Kryptonians, testy, irritable, vengeful Kryptonians, no matter the planet. Only the Masters had the right to punish their subjects, since everything their subjects owned, including their lives--their bodies--belonged to Krypton. And Kryptonians took a dim view of someone else playing with their toys.

 

The first thing Kal-El noticed was there were no 'robots' off world. There were many real metal and circuit robots, but no genetically altered animals. Kal quickly overcame his disappointment, fascinated as he was with every thing else in his new environment. 

After a week long series of good-bye parties and even an unexpected farewell gift from the Royal Cousin, he'd taken leave of his family at the base of Kandor Elevator. 

Crying and hugging each other, promising to send pictures and mail every day, fending off Grand-dad's offers of armed guards to travel with him, they'd waved at each other long after the ship traveling up the Elevator strand had passed out of Krypton's blue-pink sky and was crawling into the ebony of space. At that point Kal fought the butterflies that filled his stomach. He was traveling on what was nearly a string that stretched from the planet surface to Krypton Station high above.

He turned round and round in the little cabin he was going to occupy for the next few days. It was…odd. He was completely alone. No Mother or Father, no Frank or Nurse or any one of the staff of dozens his parents had to help run the house…his eyes filled for a moment. It was silly how much he missed them. Besides, he wasn't really alone—not now, not with his interface with the AI busily working away in its berth in his skull. He rubbed his fingers across his head, and marveled.

Though it was silent at the moment, a subtle physical signal from Kal-El would activate the link, and allow him access to any information, entertainment—anything that Kal might find interesting or necessary would be available to him. It was a marvel, he thought. He'd never get used to it.

And the first two days he'd been jacked into the System had been spent laying in the dark, in his bedroom.

His father had smiled knowingly, when hunger and exhaustion and lack of tissues had finally driven him out. 

"Just like being there, hunh?" his father had grinned.

Birdie ran right back into his room….

 

And now, here he was, a grown man, with interface and his personal field needing only to be activated on planets with a red sun. Most oxygen bearing planets had yellow suns though, and on those planets, no field was needed—on those planets, Kryptonians were gods. More god-like.  
Invincible.   
They were pretty darn cool.

Kal-El spent almost a month training in simulated yellow sunlight for the trip—no Kryptonian was about to embarrass the Supreme Commander and Guardian of the Galaxy His Royal Majesty Kar-El by accidentally setting a city on fire or freezing an ocean with a sneeze or something. He couldn't *wait* to land on the planets with yellow suns— to run faster than a laser canon blast, to be able to leap higher than the Hall of Science—he'd be able to boil water with just the wish for it, and he was sure that would come in handy. Like…if he needed tea super-fast…oh, and he could also look forward to being able to see through anything, like clothing…especially clothing....

Kal spent the next three days in bed. Room service was readily available and didn't smirk when it came to his door, unlike a certain Director of Science he could name…

He was mentally exploring an ocean world populated by friendly mermen, and discovering that not only was sex underwater fun, but the principals could be applied to air also, as in personal flight, so—very educational…a few tissues later, the announcement of station fall whispered over the interface. Heart skipping with excitement, he showered quickly and dressed in travel clothes, the Sun signet of Rao prominent on the tunic shoulder, and the small shield of the House of El, the colors indicating the minor branch, right under it. He shoved his cabin clothing and the tissues into the DisposAll in the tiny bathroom's wall, heard the faint whoosh of instantly incinerating refuse. 

A quick sweep of the brush through his disobedient hair, double checking to make sure he had his luggage claim chip, and he was ready to face his future. "Onward, oh traveler, into the mysterious night!" 

 

A gentle bump told him that the transport had docked, and he strode to the exit, towards a waiting crowd of passengers. He stood at the end of the line, happily humming, flipping the little luggage claim into the air and catching it as he looked about in fascination and suddenly, he realized that though a moment ago there had been quite a crowd ahead of him, he was strangely at the head of the line…. 

The attendant coughed lightly. "Master…if it pleases you, the station attendants are thrilled to direct you to your waiting ship."

Kal-El looked about. Master? He looked behind him, and the crowd that had been in front and was now in back of him did their best to shift facial features into the semblance of pleased smiles. 

"Me? You're waiting for me?" The concept was totally alien to Kal. Someone wanted to do his bidding...why?

The attendant looked surprised for a moment before the expression was replaced by fear. Kal-El felt he was missing something vital here…

"Master, is there something you require before you *disembark*?" The attendant emphasized disembark, and cast his eyes toward the open door and the attendants station-side, standing with varying expressions of helpfulness in place, and his bags. One of them held up a bag, and shook it enticingly. "Sir…Your luggage…"

Kal-El stepped forward, and heard the swell of relieved sighs behind him. He stepped onto the deck of the space ship and it hit him—he wasn't sure but he suspected no one on the elevator would have made a move until he did...but why? He wasn't royalty…he thought, was all that just because I'm Krptonese? But…we're all equal off planet aren’t we? Wasn't that the point of the Dominion—separate, equal and joined by the common goal the Emperor inspired in all of them? One of the attendants coughed lightly, and winced, and held the bag up again with an expression of encouragement. The others next to him slid inches away, leaving that particular person surrounded by…air.

Kal stepped forward and took the bags. "Thank you so much—which way to the ship?"

"We will escort you, your nobleness."

~o0o~

They watched the young Kryptonian trot off after the attendants. 

"Idiot," muttered someone in the crowd. "But I say that with great respect."

"Oh yes, the greatest respect for the young dolt," an Averid whistled. 

"Yes, yes, thank Krypton and Rao for enlightenment," an armored turtle-like worker said, and snatched his bags from the conveyor.

"Goodness yes, all praises be—what an asshole," another turtle being murmured before the passengers rapidly dispersed. 

The little group of station attendants watched the hurrying crowd, and tracked the dark head bobbing over most of the crowd, on its way to the docks.

"Is it me, or do they get stupider every year?" one of the attendants muttered.

"Rao will strike you dead for that," said his companion.

"Ha! I wish—I've got to report to Hell for treating the Master like the idiot he is," moaned the attendant who'd forced the young Krypto along.

"This one did seem genuinely confused and kind of sweet…" a female attendant said and blushed a bit.

"You're just full of post pregnancy hormones—that makes you stupid too."

A shaggy haired driver, four legged and with the torso of a humanoid, directed passengers to a transport cart, and tossed in his two credits. "Not to mention that he was very attractive for a hairless biped. Such pretty eyes."

The rest of the group turned to look at him, and under the thin fur covering his face, his cheeks flared red.

"Pervert." There was muttered agreement all around.

~o0o~

Kal's first ship-boarding was an enormous thrill. He raced around his suite, playing with the shower, and the entertainment wall. He flipped through what seemed to be a thousand channels. He glowered as he sped through the channels again and again…half of them seemed to be selling something….

He checked the time, and the interface told him that it was seven in the evening Kryptonian time, and that the temperature in his cabin was a pleasant sixty-five degrees and that the approach to the jump point would take twenty hours and he had five messages waiting and a new erotic film was waiting to be viewed and Kal desperately requested silence. The AI was worse than Jor-El on a chatty day. He thought he really should check his mail, but it was probably just his parents wanting him to wear a jacket and wash behind his ears. As a new Citizen he should also check the planetary news, but that could wait. The bed was enormous and looked so comfortable, and he was tired. Really tired this time—a bit of the gloss was coming off of free access to pornography whenever he wanted it. 

He lay down and looked over the little pamphlet he'd found tucked in the bedside table. When he pressed his thumb against the sheet, a menu displayed, offering the different functions available. He chose information about the ship and the pamphlet told him that the ship was very, very safe, that traveling was safer than driving a personal car, that they would enter hyperspace in under twenty hours and that they would be asleep during the transition from real time to travel time. His first stop was Avelon. He looked forward to it. It was a beautiful planet, worlds famous for its music and the people and was a favorite vacation spot or so it said in his copy of "A Young Gentleman's Guide To The Tour". The book was very informative, full of information on hotels, places to eat, points of interest. 

He thumbed through it again, and tossed it into the DisposAll. 

Right. 

Now to find out what was *really* interesting ship board.

~o0o~

Kal wandered the corridors of the ship, amazed that so much could be contained in a shell and shot into space. It was just like being in the shopping district of Argo, just as colorful and full of life. He spent too long choosing gifts for his family, and even bought a small silver bracelet he thought would look good on Rwfrtz. He thought for a moment, and bought slippers for Frank and Nurse. He could give the slippers openly, but he'd need Nurse's cooperation to give the catrobot his gift. He held the slippers in his hands, and thought maybe Nurse would like something else instead, like one of the shawls hanging in the window of the shop, roomy enough to accommodate all eight of her tentacles…or wax for her beak. He thought of her fondly, her big round head, her soft brown eyes…Nurse was the fondest part of his childhood. It was a great kindness of Mothers that she kept her on, even though he'd long outgrown any need for a nurse...Lara was so sentimental.

He shook his head and wiped a tear, and bought a small figurine of a squid that reminded him of Nurse. And the shawl.

~o0o~

After dinner, Kal watched the stars from the observation deck, and watched the crowd also. He loved people in all their fascinating variety. It never occurred to him that he might be an object of interest also, and not just because of his Kryptonian heritage. 

After a bit, he realized he was being watched by two men, one was a Daxamite, just like Frank. Daxamites were very much the same as Kryptonians physically--it was common for indentured servants like Frank to be tattooed to distinguish them from Citizens.

The other man was a Morne, from The United Morne Free Worlds. Tall, mostly covered with short thin fur, he had a cat like face that reminded Kal of the catrobots at home, but just a little, the resemblance stopped at the feline aspects—the sword and gun buckled at his hip, the knife tucked in a boot, the earrings all along the edges of his tall pointed ears, the tattoos swirled around his eye sockets would never have been allowed for most slaves, subjects or workers of Krypton, but the Morne were the one race Krypton failed to conquer.

Their battles ended in bloody draws, the Kryptonians were opposed to mass destruction of valuable property and lacked the one quality the Morne possessed in abundance—a suicidal willingness to never surrender. In the end, the Morne agreed to let Krypton claim to have rule over them, and Krypton agreed to pretend they didn't exist. They were the only sentient race allowed to carry arms at all times and they made the most of it. Morne clanked when they walked.

None of this interested Kal at all. Over six foot of muscular cat did. The little Daxamite was interesting mostly for being with the Morne. He wondered if the man was a servant. His body language seemed to imply he wasn't…Kal blushed deep red from head to toe—his over-obvious scrutiny was being returned. 

The Morne stalked over to him and pushed him against the wall of the observation deck. Kal hacked and whuffed out a deep breath—he was pretty sure his lungs had just collapsed. Rao—first day on his big journey and he was about to be eaten and not in that fun giggly way cuz Mon-El was so good at—"Excuse me, what?" he panted. He must have been hallucinating; he thought for sure the Morne said—

"I am Caar. Come to my suite, my companion and I wish to fuck you." His whiskers drew forward and Caar leaned forward also, and whiffed air into his open mouth. "You will enjoy it," he grinned and slitted eyes gleamed emerald green. "I will."

Kal found himself following the giant and his small companion as if tethered to them…defenseless, helpless, and horny as hell….

 

The sandpaper lick of Caar's tongue on his skin made him whine and writhe across the sheets. It was such an amazing, excruciatingly erotic experience, close enough to pain to make the pleasure that much more intense—he arched when the broad flat tongue licked a circle around his navel—and at the same time, lithe small fingers worked their way inside him, clever knowing fingers, well aware of the interior ring of muscle inside of him, packed with nerve-ending just waiting to drive ecstasy right into his brain.

"I'm going to fuck you, but you have to stay still for a moment," the other said, and Kal nodded frantically.

Still, yes he could do that—but not for long—"yow!" The thick slide into him made his eyes roll back, and his mouth fall open—he groaned as heat pushed against the ring, and stimulated the flow of slick fluid that eased the passage of what Kal was guessing was a very damn *big* penis…remember, he told himself, little didn't necessarily mean little all over….

"Like that, Master Boy?" The man behind him rocked up until he was buried so deep in Kal, the stiff hairs surrounding his penis scraped at the sensitive inner skin of Kal's ass, and that made it even better. He rocked back on his heels and tried to take control of the pace but he held Kal back, pushed him forward until his head was bowed and brushing the erect penis in front of him. 

'Oh! What a wonderful smell,' Kal thought, startled at how different this Caar smelled, how intense and familiar it was—like cinnamon and grass and pepper…He licked, and the flavor of the Morne flowed over his tongue and made him moan…why, he was delicious! He eagerly sucked him in, drinking the fluid that dribbled onto his tongue, swallowing him deeper and deeper, he opened his throat and swallowed again and the Morne growled, gripped handfuls of his hair and fucked his throat. Ouch. He reached up and slapped his hands away. "Hair," Kal muttered and went back to the task at hand.

"Mrrrr…sorry. Good work, Krypton, prepare yourself, it's coming…"

Kal felt a brief sting of disappointment--already? Caar fit his mouth so well, and he tasted sweet and so good—with a shout the Morne ejaculated, filling his mouth with creamy, hot and above all, wonderfully tasty come.

The Daxamite started fucking him seriously, angled so that each scrape of his fat penis against that ring slammed onto him like liquid fire, burning him inside and out in a wonderful way—he felt liquid gushing down the back of his legs and blushed a little—he was a terrible leaker once he really got started, but the other just groaned louder and fucked him slower but deeper, with a little twist that made him sob. Kal's penis was rock hard and stiff against his belly, every jostle slapped it against him and it threw pre-come over his belly and legs and the bed and the Morne's hand…

"It feels good, Krypton, your dick is very pretty, very hard…virile. And big." The rough pads of the Morne's fingers were driving Kal crazy—he drove himself into Caar's fist and panted harder, rough and then soft all over him as the fur on Caar's palms grew damp. 

Between the fiery stimulation behind and the good rough-soft stimulation of Caar's hand, Kal could imagine dying of impossibly good sex and then Caar leaned forward and his tongue out. Kal anticipated the flat rough scrub of tongue over the head of his penis, shivered-- the Daxamite pulled his hips close and fucked him hard enough to lift him off his knees and Caar did something that made his tongue long and thin and pointed and screwed that pointed tip right into the slit of Kal's penis, and Kal threw his head back and screamed long and loud…. 

Behind him the Daxamite cursed, groaned—his hips slapped wetly against Kal's ass as he orgasmed and the combination of the hot flood of come past the ring and the inside of his slit being stroked by the rough thin spear of Caar's tongue sent Kal into violent spasms—come spurt out in a jet high above his head, the next explosion dripped from under his chin, the last jet slicked his chest…he shuddered hard from head to toe, wringing a groan of painful ecstasy from the Daxamite, and slumped in into the hold of furry arms around his waist and marble smooth arms around his chest. He was sure heaven must be like this. 

Travel promised to be even more educational than he'd been led to believe by "A Young Gentleman's Guide To The Tour".

"Ah my fucking Rao," Kal breathed…

"Blessed I am," the Morne laughed with a sound like water rushing over rocks.


	3. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, A Bird In The Hand Is Worth Two In The Bush

Entering normal space again after the jump was a little like waking up from an intense dream—Kal felt like he'd heard and done something wonderful, something amazing, but all he retained was a rapidly fading sense of wonder and a slight feeling of loss. He stepped out of the bed he'd been in for the jump and shuddered all over. The thing was like a foam lined coffin—painting it bright green and pasting flower decals on it didn’t make it any less coffin like.

Before going on to the first stop on their tour, the ship was stopping for supplies--passengers were invited to spend the time there in visiting the market near the Kryptonian post planet side. Dunkeloben was a big planet with a red sun, a fact that disappointed Kal a little—a lot, actually--he'd wanted to explore the fantastic powers he'd get under a yellow sun. But this planet was said to be very beautiful, it's single giant continent covered with forests, and mountains, deep rivers—and the people were supposed to be pretty too. The call for docking rang out, and he hurried to take his first step on an alien world.

~o0o~

*"So, anyway, here I was , stark naked and dripping wet, and her husband is banging on the door, and she's—shit, tourists. Look wise and inscrutable." *

*"Gaaah—fark—which farking Old One did we piss the hells off—it's a Krypton." *

* "Shut the fark up before he hears you. Great, there goes the mother-farking profit *…How may we serve you, Honored Master?"

"Oh! Wonderful…um...that's pretty. Is it for a woman? Are they earrings?"

"Oh yes Honored Sir, they are earrings. The Master has excellent taste—they are very…very…expensive. Time consuming to craft. May I—gergh—may I be allowed to make a gift of them, oh Blessed One?"

"Oh—is this some kind of custom—thank you! I'd like the blanket, and the baskets too, please, oh, and that strip of material…"

"It's a tie, Oh Beloved of Rao. It's worn around the neck? May I demonstrate?"

"Ah, Ralf, the Honored Sir doesn’t have time to watch you do the scarf dance, heh—just let me unknot this and it's yours, oh Master. * Let go of it, you enormous ass! Let go, or you won’t have to worry about choking to death—I'll do it myself…* Here you go, Sacred One please to enjoy the fruits of our blood and sweat stained labor—ooof!"

"What my companion means, oh Beloved of Rao, is have a nice afternoon, and come again, please."

"Um…yes, I'm sure…thank you…"

They watched the tall Kryptonian walk away. 

*"You have elbows like stilettos, you scrawny ass. Can you believe the nerve of that bastard?" *

*"Really! Farking Kryptos. They're all the fark the same…can you believe the ass on him though—oh sorry…" *

*No, no, that's perfectly all right—even I can see that he's pretty darn farkable—after all, I may not be afflicted with the bents, but neither am I blind, ha ha." *

*"I have another tie, you know." *

~o0o~

They left Dunkelober, and finally, they were on their way, headed to a yellow sun planet. Kal was nearly overcome with excitement—next stop, godhood! 

 

Kal-el sat in the restaurant, absolutely in awe of the many dishes the small establishment offered—most were vegetable, some contained the larval forms of insects—it was fascinating. He had to admit to himself he was slightly less enthusiastic about those dishes that attempted to saunter off the plate, but on a whole…they were beautiful to look at and he was a guest on this world, so, when on…he flipped to the resurrected Guide and tried to pronounce the name of this world accurately…gave up and called it Avelon, like most non-avierds did-- do as the…rest of the folk did, and he lifted a thankfully sedentary bit of food to his mouth, closed his eyes and bit down. It tasted good! It didn't move! He chewed and smiled in relief. Off worlders—they could be so enchanting! So fascinating. 

He looked across the room and one of the blue skinned servants—waitbeing—waitperson, yes—caught his eye. He was tall and thin but muscular, even in the billowing black trousers and shirt, and the artfully arranged strip of black around his throat, Kal could see that. His hair fell in navy waves to his shoulders, and his eyes---so large, so golden…Kal couldn’t stop staring at him. He was beyond the point of rudeness now, but the being was gorgeous. Kal sighed happily. Good food, lovely scenery…now this was a tour!

The waitperson hurried over—the same one he'd been rudely staring at. Every dish brought to the table set off a fresh round of blushes, Kal felt his cheeks burning, his lips were even hot from blushing and biting them…he adored golden eyes, and something about an oblong pupil…Kal shivered just a bit.

 

Kal chewed and sipped some sweet bright red concoction of a drink, and felt almost giddy. It had been a while since he’d felt such an instant attraction—sadly the other kept his eyes modestly down-cast which strangely seemed to be a fairly common custom folks who weren't Citizens, despite his encouraging and he hoped friendly smiles and gestures, the other didn’t look his way, so he was resigned to finishing his meal alone. He sighed. Maybe he should have gone to the tourist traps—he might have met other Morne or Kryptonians and maybe even have gotten laid. Ah well, it was going to be Mrs. Hand and her small…daughters. No, Mrs. Palm and her…palmettes? Miss Fisty? Whatever Rwrftz used to call it. 

As Kal ruminated over the proper euphemism for masturbation, the staff of the Golden Great Glowing Ball Of Gases were having a quiet but intense argument, the kind of silent argument that sounded like snakes, angry snakes with ferocious lisps. 

“Fweese, that Overlord wants you! He’s full of desire for you. Do your duty to your country and for Gods’ sakes, your planet!”

“Duty? Planet? He wants to—to--” Fweese felt himself go pale. “I’m not a—a—phrenlicker...sorry Meeek. No offense. To each his own.”

“Phrack you,” Meeek hissed. “Get in the mood quickly, before all Hell breaks loose!”

The major domo gave Fweese a severe look. “Whether you like phren ort not, we don’t give a phrack—no one’s going to Hell because of you. He wants you, he gets you.”

“My wife! What about her?”

“She’ll understand. When the alternative to licking phren is death, she’ll be so understanding she’ll buy you a floral arrangement and a congratulations card, if she loves you. Besides, look at him, he’s really very attractive—don’t be so provincial. Remember,” the major domo said, and made a weighing motion with his hands. “Phren, burning in Hell—phren, death…is that so hard?”

Fweese dropped his head and twisted his apron through his fingers. He was terrified, he was very young and had only recently married the girl of his dreams, and now…he was being asked to do something with someone who held the life of every one in the restaurant in his hands, and it was something he’d never had any curiosity about, not the slightest bit of interest whatsoever. But. He was a boy with a big heart, a soft heart—he couldn’t bear the thought someone would suffer because of him… 

How bad could it be? He resisted throwing the apron over his head and screaming…  
"You’re right. It’s a fairly small thing when compared to the lives of my friends…and my wife. Okay.”

Meeek slapped him on the back and winked at him. “For not being an Avierd, he’s pretty attractive. Besides. All phren are the same in the dark.”

“You’re stupid Meeek, and I hope you molt all the way to the short and downys.”

“I’m not the one who’s getting phracked in the ass by an Overlord Monster tonight. Hope to see you in the morning.”

Fweese didn’t think it was possible to feel your nads rise up into your stomach….

~o0o~

At the end of his meal, the major domo came to his table and whispered in his ear, and the cute waiter was standing by the doorway, holding his cape. He blushed prettily and Kal felt his heart soar. Victory! Farewell to Mrs. Handy and her helpful daughters!

He called for a car, and allowed the waitperson to take the address of the Hotel so that the bill could be sent—he prayed it wouldn't be too much—no one seemed willing to tell him the cost….

The waitperson followed him out the door when the car arrived, stopping once to look behind him.

Kal didn’t see that the entire restaurant stared as they left, with looks of anger and disgust for him and sympathy for his poor prey, a victim of the depraved desires of the monster. A few whispered 'Death to the Kryptonian Overlords.' But quietly. Around mouthfuls of bread. Behind their napkins. Kal being otherwise occupied, missed a perfect opportunity to experience super-enhanced hearing.

Kal chattered on all the way back to his hotel, regaling the waitperson, Fweese, with tales of his friends and relatives(carefuly leaving out any mention of cousin His Majesty Shnoogie), and Fweese grinned and bobbed his head up and down. Up and down. Up and down.

They were in Kal’s suite, the lights low, a fountain in the main room providing the soothing sound of splashing water, colored lights played on it, and tiny fish leaped and splashed in it.   
“Snack?” Kal indicated the fountain, and Fweese shook his head. Even though the bright little flashes were Singing Fish, even though it was said to eat one was to gain a foretaste of heaven and it was a luxury he’d surely never be granted an opportunity to have again in this lifetime, his stomach was in tied in horrible knots…what the heck was with this Monster? He was treating him like an honored guest instead of a quick phrack. As the fledglings said, WTP?

Fweese shook as the Kal Overlord stripped himself and stripped him, so quickly he was naked in a breath. Fweese did his best to be as unresisting as possible because he really, really didn’t want to go to Hell. How should he do this? Probably opening his eyes would be a good step. He eased open his tight squeezed lids and yelped. The Overlord was an inch from his face.

“Hi there! Shall we lay down? This bed is so soft, feel that!” He leaped and bounced once or twice and his enormous phren bounced with him…oh my. Where was that going? Fweese shivered all over...Hell might not be as bad as people said…

“Lay down here,” The Kal Overlord said and Fweese stretched out immediately on the cool sheets. The Master was right…it was soft and oooh, felt like cotton…rich. 

“Nice, hunh? Oh, and so are you, how pretty!”

Fweese frowned. One thing he knew was that he wasn’t was pretty. His eyes were too wide, and his lips were too soft and poked out, and he had a hideous pattern of lighter blue speckles all over his chest and stomach and lower. Which The Master seemed intent on counting…oh dear.

"Look how beautiful you are," Kal breathed. "Look at the marvelous color you are…so beautiful."

"Stop! I’m not beautiful! I know I’m ugly; you don’t need to rub it in! Just do it, for Gods’ sakes!" Fweese cringed against the sheets, trying to disappear using the power of his mind… Oh Gods, I'm in for Hell now—WTP indeed!

Kal stopped, looked shocked. "But…you are." His mouth turned down and Fweese was reminded of babies, little sad babies. "Really." His hand slowly reached out and traced a pattern of cream colored speckles running across Fweese’s ribs. "This reminds me of the sky from Mount Rao, the way it gets darker as you go higher into the atmosphere, like it does here…” He swept his hand over Fweese’s chest. "No nipples."

Fweese shook his head. "No. Sorry." He was beginning to think he might not be doomed yet. Yet.

Kal swept his hand lower over a bulge marring the smoothness between his legs and Fweese tightened all over. The top of the bulge was bisected by a tightly closed slit.

“Aah! How very neat and tidy,” Kal enthused. “Wonderful! You could run naked in the fields and never get pointy things in dangly places, which believe me, is amusing only to people not getting pointed at. It tends to put a damper on any number of fun activities too…” He frowned a little, momentarily lost in painful memories. He leaned closer, and poked and touched the slit. “How does that feel? Nothing's happening, am I doing it wrong?”

“Oh—oh no, Sir, that’s just fine…” He bit his lip and tried to think of the most arousing thing he could imagine but unfortunately his thoughts bounced between visions of Hell and his mother…and suddenly, something hot! And wet! And hot and smooth touched the lips.

That was different.

That was interesting…very. Very…Kal wormed his tongue along the slit, and Fweese squirmed. 

That was different and good, very good…how did the Master make his inside so warm, he wondered. Oh—he felt a response, a thickening and he gasped. Kal stuck the tip of his finger into the slit. Look, it’s opening,” he crowed, “is that good?” and Fweese groaned.

“Yes, um, yes, it is, My Lord…oh gosh.” To think that he was about to be ravished by another species! A Kryptonian in particular…he wanted to cry…he’d heard that after sex, they sometimes ate part of you….

“Mmm, you smell good enough to eat,” Kal crooned, and Fweese shrieked a little and shuddered violently.

“Please, Master!”

"Kal, not master," Kal licked harder, and groaned, touched himself, sat up and stroked himself, and Fweese was fascinated. "It’s very large," he squeaked. "Did--did you know it was leaking?” He was seized with an irresistible urge to touch it. "May I…?"

Kal laughed. "Well, that’s largely the point, isn’t it? You touch me and I touch you?" He grinned and even Fweese had to interpret it as kind. It was a look that said fondness, definitely not a snarl, or warning of coming snacking, he thought.

Fweese touched. Felt. Slid his fingers up and down, and it was a very odd feeling…he was a healthy man with needs; he sometimes resorted to self stimulation. More often than he should have to, was his opinion, being a married and all…but this was like…doing it to himself without feeling it. Odd. Kal groaned, and tilted his head back and his—his nipples?—got hard…were they supposed to? He squeezed a bit and Kal groaned louder and his nipples blushed a deep rose—yes, it seems they were supposed to do that. Kal moved around so that his feet were on either side of Fweese’s head, and Kal’s head was in his crotch, he was nuzzling his rapidly swelling sac, rolling the orbs hidden in the downy sac, kissing the pouting lips of the slit… "Oh! Teeny tiny feathers—how lovely! They’re so beautiful…you are marvelous, soft, taste so good…”

Fweese let go. This wonderful feeling…wave after wave of heat swept over him and finally his phren grew hard enough to push through the slit and Kal crowed again. “How beautiful! What a lovely color, what a beautiful shape.”

All his life, Fweese had to hear how sad it was that he was less attractive than anyone else and here he was drowning in compliments and it was amazing, wonderful. Kal Overlord licked him and sucked the tip of his phren like he was performing an act of worship…all the feathers stood up and Kal sneezed in an adorable way, he licked his way around his slit, and pulled his cheeks apart and licked there and Fweese was squirming, panting and ready to scream when Kal’s phren bumped him in the nose.

Oh. 

Oh dear….

He closed his eyes tight and licked. For Gods and Planet…he licked again. For the life of his beloved wife…lick…for his friends…suck…for Gods’ sake this was kind of hot….He swallowed as much as he could and sucked hard, and was startled by a high pitched groan as the master began to pump into his mouth, a thick warm citrusy liquid flooded his mouth…it was actually kind of pleasant, in taste and texture…in the middle of this clinical thought, his body said 'oooh my….'

He lifted off the bed with a screech—very brief and swallowed as soon as it tried to break past his chewing surfaces. But a screech. A loud exhalation, denoting extreme pleasure. He made another exclamation of pleasure as the warm tongue polished the underside of his phren and urged reluctant drops to spurt out, and wrung every last bit of use out of his muscles. He collapsed back to the bed in a puddle of satiated goo. He lay on his back and stared smugly at the ceiling.

Not only had he made an Overlord babble in Kryptonese and come like a fire extinguisher at a flame walkers convention, but he’d made that same being give him enormous pleasure.   
Odds were, none of them were going to Hell, if the look on the master’s face was a pleased as he hoped. 

“Oh, that was wonderful! Wonderful," he said wistfully, and ran his fingers over the short soft feathers that framed Fweese’s ears. He sighed again, “Wonderful," and trailed his fingers to the feather’s in Fweese’s groin, and they manful tried to erect themselves again but…Fweese groaned, he wasn’t a fledgling anymore, it took rather longer than a minute for his body parts to work again. It spoke to Kal’s amazing skill that his phren and feathers even quivered somewhat in interest…he thought somewhat sadly, 'And now, and for the rest of my life, there will only be sex with my wife, who has all the imagination and passion of a cuttlebone. But by the Gods, a wonderful person, she is,' he hastily reminded himself. 

The Overlord lay on his side, his adorable eyes tightly closed, his funny fleshy but awfully delicious feeling lips fluttering as he snored like a hatchling…so cute.

Fweese sighed and got up, preparing to dress and rid the apartment of him, when Kal Overlord opened his eyes.

“Where are you going, Fwee?" He asked.

Fweese bowed deeply. "Letting Kal Overlord sleep comfortably, without my bulk to disturb him."

“Oh…oh. I was hoping…well…I was hoping you’d want to stay….”

Fweese mind quickly reran the scene of the major domo weighing fates—Hell, phrack, Hell, phrack…He grinned and leapt back in the bed. “May I?”

And Kal nodded happily and Fweese threw himself into his hugely muscled arms. “Tell me about phracking on your planet…and stuff?”

 

**Interlude**

Kal leaned back in his seat and watched the planet drop away in the observation port. In his lap, he held a jar of worms in gel, or at least that’s what it looked like, a strange white bony thing, and a card, written in a painfully proper Krptonese, the handwriting so thin and delicate, it looked like spider web. 

_I will dream of you forever, My Kal Overlord. Rao smile on you always_  
Fwee…if he could have taken him away with him, he would have. He was delicious, beautiful…Kal sighed. Ah well. Planet-side romances, the novellas were full of them. 

So, his first experience under a yellow sun, and he'd spent the whole time in bed. Tsk. Though keeping his strength in check had added a delicious tension to the sex. He shook the jar of gelled worms gently. It was so true—The Tour was just so educational, the best thing a young Kryptonian could undertake. He sneezed happily and a tiny, tiny blue feather floated from his lip into the air.


	4. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, It Is Always Darkest Before The Dawn

Kal sent his purchases back home, but the thought of everyone receiving their souvenirs didn't cheer him as much as he hoped it would—the Tour had lost a little of it's shine, his heart was heavy. Thoughts of Fwee made him a little melancholy…ach, he might as well admit it. Unlike cuz Mon-El, he just wasn't cut out for the—how did he put it—the 'Wham, slam, good day to you, ma'am' type of sex. The weekend with Fwee had filled his heart and mind, and made him wish for closeness beyond simple sex. Not that there was anything wrong with simple sex, of course. 

Hoping that some bright new purchase might help to shake this unaccustomed melancholy, Kal strolled around the shopping level of the ship, sighing so heavily that the other passengers avoided him….

Finding nothing that spoke to him, and slowly becoming aware that he was making the other passengers skittish, he finally went back to his suite, and curled up on his bed. Ah Fweese, ah, Rwrzft—how he missed them…he wondered idly how Caar and his traveling companion were doing…maybe he should give them a ring…be neighborly…manners, after all….

He fell asleep and dreamed of Rwrzft, and Fwee, dancing in a great glowing flower strewn meadow…no, jogging…no, running…Fwee was running for his life, and Rwrzft and Caar were chasing him, mouths open and drool flying and Fwee was yelling, Kal—Kal—

"Kal-El! Wake now!"

Kal jerked awake, an unfamiliar voice was yelling right in his ear—no, inside his head—

A siren was wailing, and competing with the shriek of the sirens were instructions loudly repeating in the ten major languages of the Dominion, exhorting the passengers to report to the on-deck, and the voice in his head shouted, "You must leave your suite at once." Kal looked about wildly—this was definitely not a drill, the sound from the corridor was one of panic, and he'd never had a strange voice in his head before. Fear drove him, he snatched Cousin Shnoogie's gift—a watch slash everything—from the bedside dresser and ran.

In the corridor, the crowds melted aside as best they could to let him run, he made his way to the deck, too upset to notice. What could be happening? Ships were supposed to be safe—safer than private transport, safe as a mother's arms. So what the bloody Hells was happening here? He caught a faint whiff of burning plastic, the corridor lights flickered--dimmed and brightened arrhythmically. Under the sound of the crowd, he heard an odd whistling—and he heard the engines. He wasn't supposed to hear them…. 

At one end of the on-deck, small pods were continually launching. The lighting here was different—a harsh white that made everything looked washed out and pale. The people being shoved into the pods looked like lost souls under the white, white light. Even over the shrieking sirens, the cold impersonal voice shouting instructions and the frightened yells of the other passengers, Kal heard the attendants shouting orders at the people they forced into pods—one after the other, the pod hatches were thrown shut, beacons slapped on and they were launched out into the dark night of space. 

To one side of the deck were several small ships, easily the size of three or four pods, Kal could see that compared to the pods the non-citizens were being crammed into, the interiors of these were luxurious. As he looked, another Kryptonian hurried to one, bowling over whoever was in his way. Kal watched open mouthed as his planetsmen were led on the run to the ships; in fact, there was a ship for every Kryptonian on board the cruiser. Panicking non-Citizens were knocked out of the Citizens' way. 

The attendants noticed him standing to the side and converged on him in a multi-species wave. They tried to lead him to the last ship. There were hardly any of t he little pods left, and passengers were fewer, some of the attendants were stepping into stasis suits…the alarms were winding down and somehow the quiet was even more frightening than the noise had been. He could hear the strange whistling noise clearly now, as well as the groan of the over taxed engines.

He balked at being led away, caught up by the sight of a couple of Milmac families near one of the last escape pods—tiny, scale covered mothers with even tinier children hanging over their backs, their little tentacle-like tails wrapped around their mother's tails. The children were being pulled away from their mother. Their terrified piping filled the air as the attendants separated them and tossed them into waiting pods, only big enough to carry five or six of them at a time. The mothers were frantic, trying to comfort their children, knowing it was the only way to save them, but suffering from their separation. Other passengers rushed past, averting their eyes—each intent on their own rescue. 

Except Kal-El. 

"Stop! Why are you doing that?" he shouted, "Stop at once!"

Everything stopped—for a moment. An Overlord—yelling. In a public place. The novelty was enough to silence everyone, before self preservation took over.

"Honored sir--*please* get in the escape pod, now."

"But look at the size of the thing—why aren't you putting the whole family in one of those?" he pointed at the ship. "Two or three families could comfortably fit one!" 

They ignored him, tried to coax him, "Please, Honored Master!" and finally, finally began to drag him bodily towards the ship. The collective gasp from the remaining passengers was clear even above the Milmac's whistling.

Kal broke free and ran back to grab the children from the tiny pods and began stuffing them into the ship meant to be his. The little Milmac mothers whistled long tremulous blasts of horror, certain that the monstrous Kryptonian was trying to stock his ship with snacks for the journey. They launched themselves at him, little needle like teeth piercing his shins—Kal-El hopped to the ship, arms full of squalling, flailing, leaky Milmac babies. "Stop—yowch—please—I'm trying to hel—ow! Stop!"

A loud, deep roar vibrated across the deck and again, everyone froze.

Caar eyed the Milmacs hanging from Kal's shins. "Bound to Hell is it, little Mothers?" He spoke the Milmac's whistling language with ease. "Or maybe you'd like to be my dinner, right now?" 

They dropped off Kal like overripe fruit and edged back towards the ship Kal was trying to put their children in. Caar purred, "The crazy Krypton is trying to save you, Families. Get in the ship and shut up." As they turned, he said, "Oh…and apologize." As one, the little Milmacs dropped facedown to the deck, stayed there until Kal yelped, "Please! It's fine—just--run!"

They leaped aboard his ship like scaly little rubber balls. As the hatch closed, happy cries of "Mama!" filled the air. 

The attendants stood at the last escape pod with like expressions of doom. "We're *all* going to Hell for this, Morne. We're going to *Hells*."

"Don't be stupid," the Morne laughed. "We're *all* going to *die* anyway, including the crazy Krypton," he said, watching Kal coax the last of the Milmacs aboard the rescue ship, then turn to the attendants and imperiously order them to launch the ship. He stood by with a deep scowl as they hurried to do as he said.

Caar strolled over to stand next to him. "So," he grinned. "Finally got what it means to be you, *Overlord*?"

"I—I think so. My family never really explained just what being a Kryptonian meant. I mean I knew—I just didn’t *know*."

"Well now you're finding out. Probably won’t do you any good. We're more than likely going to die in space. So much for safer than public transport…"

"What happened?" Kal asked, but the Morne was distracted by the arrival of his companion.

"Hey, nothing left but stasis suits. I'm going now." He stopped and bowed low to the both of them. "It was worth everything to have gotten to know you. Rao willing, we'll meet again."

Caar inclined his head. "In better days, my friend. Good hunting to you." He watched the Daxamite scamper off, and coughed out a rumbling laugh. "Meet again…no chance in Hades of that happening."

"You're really beginning to scare me," Kal muttered.

"What, just beginning?"

One of the loading crew ran up "Sirs, sirs, Honored and Most Gracious Master, Honored Morne Caar—there are no pods left." Half the attendants dropped face down. The remaining standing attendants moved as one behind the being who'd spoken first, making him their leader. "There are stasis suits, with beacons—the chances are excellent you'll be found—the suits are safer than private transport…" It's beak clacked as it talked, and it's many tentacular arms waved an intricate dance of frustration and apology.

Caar rumbled. "Safer, certainly…hur, hur…" He turned to Kal. "They will preserve you perfectly until whenever you're picked up again. Barring dropping into a sun, or losing your power, or being eaten by a space whale…kidding," he chuckled again at Kal's look of horror. "--but only about the space whale."

They walked to the suits, hooked against the wall in a row at the airlock. Kal thought they exuded an air of menace, almost as if they were aware…the black faceplates seemed to watch him as he walked closer.

Some attendants were entering the suits; the staff that had manhandled him were not. They helped others into the suits, which were basically one-man escape pods. They had a power source, plus a solar fan that would unfold in space. Inside the suit, all time stopped--it was like being in perpetual jump--until the suit was picked up, or detected a Dominion signal, or landed on a planet capable of sustaining the life it held. Nano-bots helped to maintain the unconscious being in the suit. Suits were nearly perfect—aside from a few minor problems…exploding power sources, a tendency to wander off course, beacons cutting out, life support failing….

Looking at the menacing suits, Kal thought about the nano-bots and shuddered. The very idea made him slightly ill…tiny little robots crawling all over him—in him, in his personal private orifices—he shuddered again.

A furry palm slapping his back knocked him out of his queasy reverie.

"It was good to know you, Crazy Krypton. Maybe we meet again. Doubtful. I will remember the fucking as long as possible. Good hunting!"

The Morne scraped a prickly tongue across Kal's mouth, and let himself also be inserted into a suit, and was shot out of the lock with a few other ship attendants.

Kal swallowed and climbed into the suit—he closed his eyes and the lock door opened—

~o0o~

The last attendants stood on the deck and watched the last of the suits jet away.

"Well. That sucked beyond the telling."

"Yeah. Fucking Krypton." The attendant clacked it's beak and took several deep breaths. "Well, you ready?"

"I suppose. So what happened?"

"Sabotage," it said with a multiple shrug. "Anti-Krypton sabotage. 'Free 'take your pick of planet' Today'. 'Down with the Kryptonian Monster Overlords'. Idiots."

"They might have a point, don’t you think?" the other attendant took a small pill out of a decorative flourish on his name badge. The remaining attendants did the same.

"Well. Over the beak, past the gums, eh?" It waved a few tentacles in what it hoped was a suave and devil may care way, and swallowed.

"Even dead, you're an asshole," the other said. "Fuck Krypton." and he swallowed the tiny yellow pill.

"Marginally better than blowing your own brains ou--" it slumped to the floor. With gentle thumps the last of the ship's crew dropped to the floor and the mortally damaged ship opened to space. The Cruise Liner Liberty Hall was dead….

~o0o~

 _Thirty suits left the on-deck of Liberty Hall. The power sources of three of them immediately exploded. Two stopped working, but the beings inside them never knew. Twenty of them worked just as they were supposed to and the beings in them were rescued by various members of the Dominion. Three ships wandered off course and were found by slavers…one went into the sun of a giant planet, and one was pulled into a wormhole…._


	5. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, Seize The Fish!

_On exiting the wormhole, a beacon dropped from the suit like an overfull tick and positioned itself to mark the exit._

_The suit homed in on a group of planets orbiting a yellow sun. It searched for signs to tell it which of them would be likely to support the life it held in comfort, and moved steadily towards the unknown system._

_An unheard voice inside Kal-El's head sighed, "We're not in the Dominion anymore…"_

Meanwhile on Krypton, trouble was brewing, a bitter, over cooked, sat on the hot plate all day kind of brew….

"Silence! Silence!" The Head of The Institutes of All Sciences shouted down the outraged buzz of sound in the great Hall. He was grateful that this session was being held privately—if this disaster of a meeting had been broadcast to the Citizens, all of their reputations would have suffered. The separate Halls argued with each other, but one fact was plain and simple to comprehend—an asteroid the size of a Planet Sweeper was headed swiftly towards Krypton, where it would have the same effect…destruction of all life on Krypton.

Solutions had been offered, the Hall Of Military Science had proposed blowing the asteroids into bits. But the bits themselves were guaranteed to rain down disaster and terrible loss of life and property…

The Hall of Science-Kandor City, headed by a man who'd once been a close friend to Jor-El, had proposed a solution that almost everyone had agreed on. Everyone but Jor-El and his scientists.

Zod-Al, Jor-El's former friend and head of Kandor's Hall, insisted that a shield could be erected over the entire globe, based on the same technology as their personal shields and using the energy of the planet's core to power it. Jor-El opposed the plan, claiming that it would cause an instability in the core and pull the planet apart. 

"Nonsense! The core will provide us with nearly unlimited power, and more importantly, do so safely. My esteemed colleague is talking out of an orifice more usually designed to eliminate, not obfuscate."

The crowd snickered in appreciation as Jor-El burned. "You don’t understand—we'll lose everything! If we break up the asteroid, we have the chance of repairing damage—we can evacuate the population, and Daxam has ample room for refugees to settle until it's safe once more to return—a single generation—possibly not even that, before we would be able to return to a healthy, livable Mother Krypton."

"Our dear friend Jor-El would have us run for bolt-holes like terrified vermin—but we are Masters, Captains of our own fates. I say we stay, and show the Dominion why we alone are fit to rule them all."

Jor-El muttered, "Except that one bunch, over Morne way—ouch." Lara elbowed him delicately.

When presented with estimations of just how much destruction Krypton would suffer, and just how much time and effort it would require to make Krypton habitable again, it was quickly decided the shield was the only solution. Supporters of Jor-El left the planet in droves, and Jor-El decided that his family had no choice but to leave Krypton also.

~o0o~

"Did you find Birdie yet?" Lara-El was besides herself with worry. "Did he respond? What if the message is lost—how will he find us? This is too terrible, Jor, too terrible!"

Jor-El frowned, worry nibbling at him but determined not to show it—Lara was worried enough right now. "He'll get the message, I know he will, and he'll be fine. He's too far away to be caught up in this, and any world in the Dominion is safe harbor for him. He'll get our message and meet us on Daxam. Promise," he assured his wife, but deep inside, he had the awful feeling he'd never see their child again.

With a deep sigh, Lara leaned against Jor, resting her head on his wide shoulder. "But…the House of El isn't leaving. What if we lose the Emperor? What will happen to the Dominion—will it still be safe for us?"

Jor shrugged. "Let the House of El worry about itself. My concern is providing for mine. Frank and I will make sure you're fine, that all of us are taken care of." Jor-El looked out over the little group of servants huddled in the garden. "Everyone of us, we Els of Kryptonoplis, are going to be safe." There was a short, muted round of cheers, and immediately after, with Frank's glare encouraging them, everyone remembered they had pressing business elsewhere. 

Frank glared at the backs of the departing servants, appalled by their lack of control. He turned to the Els, and bowed slightly. "Yes, My Lady. Everything will be fine, just as the Master says. Please, let us get ready to depart, while we still have time."

Jor led Lara towards the bedrooms, and she went into Birdie's closed room. The gentle sound of the air being cleaned of dust only made her mood sink lower. Lara wandered around the bedroom, touching Kal's things, twisting a shirt he'd left on the bed around her hands. "But all his treasures—he'll want all his treasures…" she held the shirt to her cheek and her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

"He'll want his parents alive and well most of all, my dear. Come, let Frank do what he needs to, we also have to prepare." Jor-El gently urged her from the room, and pointedly ignored the flowers on Birdie's desk that were fresh and not placed there by either his mother's or father's hand—ignored also little ginger hairs on the bed's pillow…

Frank made a few mental notes…get that idiot catrobot boy to pack a few necessaries and favorite items from Kal-El's room, and kick it's stupid, furry, mopey, love-lorn ass all the way to Daxam…

 

**And Again, Detour**

In due course, the shields covered Krypton, and volcanoes and fires and earthquakes ripped the planet to bits…

From a safe distance, The Hammer of Justice watched the planet destroy itself, as did his advisors, members of his court and the inventor of the planet wide shield.   
And Zod said, "Oh shit..."

Shnoogie frowned at the cataclysm unfolding on his flagship's huge screens and said, "Tell, me, Zod-Al, have you ever heard of the Phantom Zone? It was a project my cousin was working on, before our home world was so inconveniently destroyed…."

 

The planet broke apart into radioactive missiles of doom and the parts traveled far and wide. Years later, pieces of planet, and one odd hitchhiker were pulled into the orbit of a radiant green world, tore through the atmosphere and exploded onto a small town in middle of the North American continent. A little boy playing in a cornfield was one of the first on Earth to make contact with another world. It didn't go well for him or the town he was visiting that day. Many died, and the town itself would never be the same--for that matter, neither would the little boy caught in the cornfield…but that was another story.

*Our* story continues here.

 

**Meanwhile, many years later….**

The AI took control of the suit, directed it to cruise over the surface of the planet—there was something about one of the continents that drew it. The suit dropped down lightly in an area that was nearly clear of local life forms, and also featured a series of caves that provided excellent cover. From there, it would be able to discover where they were, and call for help in complete safety. A quick scan of the area told the AI that Kal-el would be able to safely breathe and eat, and the yellow sun would provide added protection for it's charge. Under it's rays, Kal-El would become virtually indestructible, and almost ageless…the AI considered, it might be prudent to keep him in sleep until rescue came.

As soon as it settled the suit and Kal into the rear of the caves, the AI discovered a huge flaw in it's plans.

It searched and searched, for several days it tried every option possible but it found no signal, there was no answer to it's call. For all intents and purposes, Krypton didn't exist. The AI had no idea where it was, and it was cut off from the minds it had been in contact with…forever. It overcame it's disorientation eventually, but in the process discovered that it worked more efficiently with contact. It reached out to the world around it and found the planet had no level of technology to compare with even the lowliest of Dominion members. Monitoring communications, the AI found that this planet called…Dirt…Soil…was in a state of near constant war-fare, poverty and disease, alone in it's corner of space. It was seemingly determined to destroy itself….  
The AI connected with the beacon at the wormhole exit and spit a message it's way, directed it to broadcast on all channels, at all times—"Come quick. The situation is dire--"  
It was obvious even to a being devoid of emotion.

This planet needed Rao.

~o0o~

"Kal-El, wake up. Wake up."

"Mommy, I'm sleeping…"

"Kal-El, wake now. You must wake *now*."

"I wasn't doing anything! We were just playing dress up—honest! What?"

Kal blinked and it seemed to take forever. The voice in his head echoed on and on….

"KAL-EL." 

"Yes!" He was awake, annoyed, and every square inch of his body shrieked in agony. By the time he opened his mouth to draw in air and join his tortured nerves in screaming, he felt fine—better than fine—he felt wonderful. And thirsty. And hungry. He turned his head about in the helmet, and the thin nozzle he'd expected brushed his cheek. He drew on it, anticipating a mouthful of foul, lukewarm nutrient broth. He was in no way disappointed. If anything, it was even fouler than he'd imagined. 

"It's just not possible anyone's actually ever lived long enough to drink this…this excreta," he gasped. "They would have phracking warned everyone off of this—pisswater."

"Move your arms and legs, Kal-El," the voice said.

"Who the Hell is this? The suit? The interface? And stop shouting in my head, will you?" He grumbled. "I have a headache…"

"I am Kal-El's interface. Move..." The voice hesitated, and Kal got the distinct impression it was thinking."…please."

"Well, since you ask so nicely," Kal smiled. "Since when do you talk? You never talked before."

"There was no need to talk to you directly before."

"Hunh, I suppose so," Kal said. He moved, stiffly at first but gradually his movements became smoother, until he was jogging in place. "I feel fine—I can take the suit off, can't I? Which planet are we on? How soon before we can rent a suite?" Kal quieted for a moment. "Say…why can't I get my mail? Or anything…what's going on?"

"Prepare to exit the suit."

"Hey, answer me—what's going on? It seems awfully quiet, like it's just you and me here--"

"Exit the suit and I will explain." It was silent for a beat and then said, "This planet has a yellow sun," and it's voice might have held the faintest wheedling tone.

"Oh, great, a yellow sun! The last time, I never quite made it out of bed."

"Yes. Please, prepare to exit."

The suit cracked down the sides, and split open along a seam that ran down the middle of it's chest. It opened like a gate, freeing Kal's limbs. He ducked his head to clear the helmet, and staggered free, stepping out into the unknown. He took a deep breath, and grimaced slightly. "What in the worlds is that odd smell? Just where are we?"

"The odor is caused by varied pollutants, where we are is not certain, the inhabitants call it Dirt. Soil. Ground. Sorry, Earth."

"Earth? How strange…why name your home such an odd term—that would be like calling Krypton Mud….so, really. Where in the Dominion are we?"

There was a rather pointed silence and then slowly, the AI said, "Pay attention now, Kal-El…"


	6. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, On The Open Road

"So…what now?" Tears left tracks through a smudge of dust on Kal's cheek, and he absently rubbed it away. 

"We wait until the technology is capable of producing what we need. We hope that some member of the Dominion locates the wormhole, that they pick up the beacon. We are fortunate that we are under a yellow sun—since it makes you virtually immortal, waiting will not pose a problem."

"No problem?" Kal squeaked. "No problem? You're telling me to sit around on my ass and wait while somewhere, wherever Krypton is, my parents are dying of old age--*everyone* I know will be dead and buried by the time I manage to return home--" His breath caught, hitched, but he swallowed the sob that tried to break free. He took a long deep breath, slowly released it. "Okay. But I'm not just sitting here and waiting for—for things to happen."

Kal stood and walked out of the cave and stood on the top of a ridge. "There's a town down there," he said. "I can hear the people. I can *see* them. Show me how I can fit in with them. Teach me how to work among them."

"Kal-El, it would be safer for you to avoid the inhabitants. It would be better if you were to re-enter the suit, and allow me to return it to stasis mode--"

Kal's heart beat swung wildly—"No, no." He shook his head emphatically. "I don't—I can't--"

A quick, soft buzz of static filled Kal's skull. "We will begin with an over view of their currency, and their work ethic--"

"What do the boys here say to one another when they want to have sex?" Kal asked enthusiastically and was answered by another small burst of static. "Oh, are you okay?"

*Please, we will begin with the currency.*

Kal sighed. He recognized that tone of voice. Dad used that tone with him frequently. That tone meant there'd be no teaching of intergalactic pickup lines this evening. A happier thought stopped him in his tracks, and a little grin bloomed. "Wait just a moment."

Kal jogged to the top of the ridge again and struck a pose. With one hand fisted over his heart, he spoke in as deep and serious a voice he could.

"I claim this world for the Dominion--all her resources, and all her people, are now part of the realm of His Royal Highness The Light of Krypton." He scrambled back down the little hill and sat at the lip of the cave. "What's first, oh, Interface mine?"

*static* You must first become accustomed to *not* addressing me vocally. The Earthers have no such technology, and you might appear to be…*

*Nuts?* Kal grinned and pushed the hair curling damply over his forehead away. * It's odd, I'm supposed to be invulnerable, but I swear, the air is like syrup—should it be pressing it's hot sticky little hands all over me? Normally that would be a good thing but Rao's sake, I'd kill for a swim. *

* First education. Knowledge is protection. There is a lake not far from this area. After your instructions, you may swim there. Now, prepare. *

"I hate when you—oook--" Kal stood frozen as thousands and thousands of images assaulted him, burrowed into his mind....

"Oh gosh," he gasped when it was finally quiet inside him again. "That was…pretty awful, actually."

"Knowledge is protection," it repeated. "You should be aware Kal-El, that you are speaking a combination of Kryptonese and English. You must be very careful not to do this."

"Okay…I'm sorry—I mean—I'm sorry. Is this better?"

*Sorry is irrelevant. Sorry is an emotion. I do not contain emotion. *

* Oh yes, right. Forgot. You're a tool. *

The AI was silent for a minute. *Yes. Tool*.

"A big one," Kal sighed.

~o0o~

* I've decided I will live like the other Earthers until rescue arrives,* Kal declared, as he floated lazily around the lake, arms and legs spread wide, * I will find employment and then…what type of things do you think Earthers like to do? When they have sex, I mean.* Mosquito after mosquito attacked his invulnerable flesh…Kal felt a little sorry for them. They looked positively dejected as they floated away again….

*Employment requires an address, and a history, some proof of your existence…it will take some time to insert you into the stream of information.*

Kal kicked his heels and floated to the center of the lake. *I have complete faith in you. I know you will make everything right.*

~o0o~

Kal made sure the suit was well hidden, detached it's recorder and slipped it into a carry all. After examining a variety of clothing images, he picked a set of clothing that resonated, made him smile. With a just a thought, the coverall he wore shimmered, changed, until it appeared to be native garb. He was grateful that the people in this part of the world wore fairly simple clothing—not at all like the extravagant headgear and dangerously high spike-like heels some Earthers wore. He doubted he'd be able to smile as carelessly as they while balancing a ton of feathers and sparkly bits—not to mention doing this wearing a garment that seemed designed solely to torture one's private parts—

He set out towards the town he'd seen from the caves. It was a pleasant walk, made much more enjoyable by not feeling fatigue. When he got bored with walking, he lifted and floated a bit. The odd static bursts afflicted him rather frequently…"Should you run a diagnostic on yourself, you seem to be making some sort of odd…noise…"

*Kal-El, please be cautious, the average human does not float, or run so quickly or see through solid objects—you must behave as a human. It would not do for you to be found out. It might be dangerous. *

*Well, at least there are no Hells on this world. *

*There hardly needs to be. * 

Images flicked through his head—Kal swallowed, and set his feet on the ground again. The Earthers were no slouches when it came to self-destruction. In that regard, they out-Morned the Mornes….

 

The road he was walking along was long and seemed perfectly, boringly, flat. The heat of the afternoon sun rose up from the surface and warmed his feet pleasantly. Ahead of him, he could see heat waves dancing above the black roadway. On either side of the road, wide fields he knew to be farmland seemed to stretch on and on to the horizon. Tall stands of vegetation whispered in a very slight breeze. An alien world—a truly alien world, one never before seen by any citizen or worker…it was a marvel. He stopped and inhaled deeply, enjoying the strange new scents on the warm air. 

He stepped off the road and looked up at the tall plants around him. "Corn," he said, and spread his hands wide. "An annual grass, and the second biggest crop that Khan-saz produces. Kaaanz-az. Mom would love this plant—she'd fill the gardens with it! Look how cleverly it protects it's fruit!" He stopped and pulled an ear loose from a stalk, and peeled back the husk. He sniffed, and bit. Chewed thoughtfully. "It's lovely to look at, but the taste leaves something to be desired."

"Generally, the Corn is cooked before eating." 

"Ah. Really? Oh. So it is." He tossed it aside, and walked on. "Look ahead, a farmhouse! I can apply for employment there—I will present myself as an itinerant worker, a--a what is it called…a hobo? Information isn’t important to person pursuing the nomadic life, am I right?"

* Kal-El, in a short time I will be able to create and implement a personal history for you—we can wait until then--*

*Oh, come on, my sunny Interface. Isn't the tour all about discovery, adventure—living like the natives? It'll be fun!*

~o0o~

Kal walked into the neatly maintained yard of the house, and was instantly overcome with a wave of homesickness. 

Of course, the house was nothing like his parent's home, it was very small, and was constructed of yellow painted wood instead of pale pink stone. The flowers were oddly shaped, the scents not the same—but the feeling of welcome was. There same feeling of home and love that greeted him whenever he stepped into the doorway at home was also here, the way the healthy lush plants crowded the path to the entranceway of the little yellow house was achingly familiar, as was the low buzz of pollinating insects—it made him expect to see the little blue-green gossamer winged fliers he was used to. 

The care in which the home was maintained made it obvious the people who lived there loved the little house, loved each other. He sighed. His heart felt heavy, and he missed his parents terribly—he missed his friends. He rubbed at his eyes, looked back to the house, and jumped-- he wasn't alone.

A tall man stepped farther out of the shadows on the porch and into the sunlight. He had bright blue, intelligent eyes, clear and intense and at the moment, they were trained on him with suspicion. "Can I help you?"

"I was…looking. For work."

*well done, Kal-El *

"Work, hunh?" The man leaned against the porch railing. "We don't normally hire day workers…"

Kal stared hard at the man. He appeared to look like any Kryptonian. Normal. Average. No feathers--he looked harder—at all. That was a shame, he'd really taken a liking to feathers….

"I was…hoping to find a place to stay for a short time…until I get up on my foots—feet. Sorry." Kal blushed, and dipped his head in embarrassment and the stranger chuckled. "I'm still studying your worl—culture--" *oops*

_*static*_

"Oh, so you're an exchange student, is that it? Backpacking across America? My wife backpacked across Europe when she was a student…maybe she visited your country?"

"I am—I am from…Italy."

"I'm sure she was there, Rome, I think." The man stared hard at him, and then nodded slightly. "Come on in, we'll see what we can do about lunch—are you hungry?"

"Lunch would be wonderful!" Kal stepped up on the porch, and stood for a moment in the door way, thanking Rao. "Blessing on this house, Master," he muttered, and caught the surprised look on the man's face.

He narrowed his eyes and stared hard at Kal. "You're not a missionary of some kind are you?"

Kal looked thoughtful. "No, I don’t think so…"


	7. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, A Welcome Port In The Storm

Dinner was wonderful, full of tastes and textures that were new to him, and he was divided between enjoying them immensely and trying not to appear too…odd. The woman seemed more than happy to feed him, she kept his plate full.

After the empty plates were cleaned away, and they shared a wonderfully fragrant drink called 'coffee', the man leaned his elbows on the table, studied Kal seriously and asked, "Well young man, what do you know about farm work?"

Kal shut his eyes and let the AI shift through information. After a moment, he said, "I know a lot—in theory, Jon-Than." 

Jon-than grinned at the woman, Mar-Tha. "Sounds like Alexander, doesn't he?"

She laughed, a musical trill that made Kal's heart soar. "He does at that. Come tomorrow, Kal, you'll have a chance to show us what you know." She smiled at him so brightly that Kal was dazzled, and just nodded, and smiled with her. Whatever she wanted, if there was any way possible, he would make it happen.

The couple gave him blankets and a pillow, pointed him towards a loft room in the barn, and he happily climbed the stairs. 

"The Jon-than Kent is a very admirable person, don’t you think?" He threw a sheet over a leather couch and tucked it around the cushions. "And the Mar-Tha Kent…" Kal tossed the pillow on one end. *It makes me sad--they remind me so much of my parents. They are good people.* He removed his clothing, selected a new image closer to what Jonathan was wearing and laid it carefully on a chair near the couch. He dropped to the couch and rolled to his side, pulled the lavender blanket to his chin.

*They seem to be. But be careful, Kal-El. Don't be mislead into thinking that because you feel fondness for an individual, they are safe. Anyone could be a danger.*

"Yes, that's true…" he sighed and stared at several pieces of art tacked to the raw wood walls of the loft space. They depicted a bald individual wearing what looked an awful lot like a Rao Day festival costume ...he liked the way the character looked. He wondered who had put the art on the walls—something told him it was not the Kents. He finally fell asleep, and dreamed of a beautiful bald man, who while sadly featherless and furless, was still wonderfully handsome and extremely limber…

The next morning, Kal drew on what information the AI had found for him concerning farms and labor. He shoveled out the sleeping places of a few very large attractively spotted animals. There had been an embarrassing few minutes in which he'd tried to have conversation, until the AI had gently let him know the large four legged creatures were not intelligent in the way that *they* were. 

*Don't you think it would have been the thing to do--warning me that they were beasts of burden and not visiting friends?*

*you weren't paying attention when I tried to explain, I believe you were too busy uttering unintelligible babble to the infants.*

"I can't believe that everyone lives with a cranky old maiden aunt in their heads," Kal muttered. He was bending over a trough, mixing grains together for the Cows to eat when a moistly grass scented blast of hot air blew over his cheek. He turned to towards the source and made contact with a damp, slimy muzzle—he yelled, and pushed it away, forgetting to hold back. The cow flew across the shed, and nearly staggered into Jonathan as he came through the shed doors. 

"Holy shit." Jonathan stared at Kal, and Kal tried to hide in plain sight. "How the hell strong are you?"

"…very?"

"You…you…" Jonathan looked around the sparkling cow shed, eyes wide and mouth open and Kal watched him nervously. He hoped what he did was satisfactory. "You finished already? Holy hell—the place is spotless. I—wow." He rubbed the back of his head, with a wry expression that crinkled his eyes and Kal thought fondly how handsome it made him. Jonathan started to say something, but huffed instead. "Hey, don’t go knocking my cows around, you hear? Come on, time to take a break." 

Kal stepped forward, feeling chastised, but Jonathan threw an arm around his shoulders and squeezed. 

"I'm kidding. You did a good job, son."

Kal felt almost as pleased as he had at his final test.

~o0o~

The days passed in a pleasant blur. Being with the Kents made his exile a little more bearable, helped to ease the pain he felt when he thought of his parents…in time he began to think of the Kents as a surrogate parents—in turn, they treated him like a family member instead of an employee. Kal found the business of the farm fascinating, almost miraculous. That one could bring food from the dirt, that the Cows gave milk that became wonderful cheese, and cream and the sinfully delicious ice cream; it was almost to much to believe. It made him think that Rao's Plan must surely include all creatures, not just Citizens…though he had to say that Plan was murky and confusing and convoluted and difficult to discern. 

Kal shrugged. That was what faith was all about….

~o0o~

A few days after Kal arrived on the farm, Jonathan Kent asked him if he'd like to go to town.

"Of course! I would love to go to town!"

"I'll bring the truck around, and here—your wages." Jonathan winked at him and walked away.

*Quick—what is town? And wages…oh! I see. Excellent! Dollars are wages, dollars allow you to purchase useful items.*

*Kal-El, remember to use caution in dealing with strangers. Also remember, knowledge is protection, and all the information you require is available to you. Please access it.*

*Don't worry; I am very aware that I must be careful. I will not reveal my secrets, I will not betray Krypton, my word as a responsible citizen. Now…* Kal looked thoughtful as the old truck chugged down the drive towards him. *How do you say 'Greeters Hall' in English? Ow! Stop giving me headaches…*

Jonathan dropped Kal at the door of a small restaurant that amazingly specialized in the selling of Coffee. Kal stepped in through the doors, stopped and inhaled with a look of total bliss on his face. His eyes dropped shut, and a low trill of happiness escaped him. The smell of the Coffee was…incredible.

He went to a long glass counter—behind the glass were several kinds of sweets, and portable meals—sandwiches. Behind the counter, a board described what foods and drinks were available. But mostly…mostly, there was Coffee. The magical drink, the delicious, mind clouding substance…wonderful Coffee.

"Can I help you?" a young woman asked. She was tiny and quite pretty, though a little thin, Kal thought. She smelled almost as nice as the Coffee.

Kal nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes you may. I would like…Coffee." His eyes went wide as he said the word, and it came out in a husky whisper. The young woman's eyes widened also, her nostril flared into delicate wings and she stammered, "What—what kind?"

"Kind?" he asked. There were kinds? "Um…I just want…coffee…"

"Well, we have coffee, espresso, espresso Americano, flavored espresso, which would be cinnamon spice, white chocolate , you can have whipped cream, you can have it with--"

"Oh, please, can I just have coffee? In a cup?" Kal was nearly shaking—there was so much information and–so much was going on, all over the little shop he heard conversation, and breathing, stomachs rumbling, hearts thumping away, the squeak and rip of teeth working on food, and the horrible sucking sound of straws being implemented. He gasped out a thank you and fled to a far table and concentrated on blocking out everything but the heady taste of coffee.

*Kal…are you…well?*

His legs trembled a little but his heart was slowing, and he'd finally wrestled his hearing into obedience. *Yes, I'm fine now…* He ducked his head to sip at the steaming cup—the heat made his mouth feel pleasantly warm, and helped to further calm him. *Well…the people here are very attractive, even without feathers, or fur…or scales,* he thought reflectively. He missed that instant access to…educational films.

Jonathan was going to meet him after he'd concluded his business, and he'd encouraged Kal to meet people, learn a little about Smallville. "This little town is the kind of place you'll want to tell your folks about—it's getting rarer and rarer to find--". 

Taking Jonathan's advice to heart, the next time the little waitress passed his table, he called her over. "Hello, my name is Kal. What's yours?"

She looked at him startled, but her expression quickly thawed. "Lana. Nice to meet you Kal." Her eyes danced with amusement. "I'm sorry, but I do have other tables to wait on. Maybe we can talk later." Her nose wrinkled and her lips curved in a little bow, and Kal admired the effect. 

He watched her walk over to a table occupied by a very handsome young man, and a pretty girl. Kal watched the young man laugh, his teeth white and even against his dark skin—it made a wonderful effect. He found himself entranced. The boy looked just like a Daxamite. Kal listened in briefly to their conversation and of course the boy was just an Earther, but it was nice to give into fantasy briefly.

A bell over the door tinkled cheerfully and another boy walked into the café. Kal gulped his coffee, and tears blurred his vision for a moment as he choked. It was incredible, amazing—an incredible coincidence, or odd example of convergent evolution…if Rwrftz had been hairless except for his head, and his eyes were blue instead of gold, this young man could have been his twin. Kal watched him walk by open mouthed, frankly staring. The boy stared back, his expression somewhere between hostile and curious, and finally settling on mildly embarrassed and unsettled. He walked up to the counter, kissed the girl, and glanced back at Kal who was still staring happily.

*Quick, quick—tell me what I should say!*

*Kal, this species is different than your own--*

*--but not too different to have sex, right? *

*I meant culturally and to forestall questions, yes, it is possible for Kryptonians to have sex with Earth humans. Now please, listen to me—allow me to perform the function of protecting and educating you. And refrain for just one moment in time of thinking about sexual intercourse to concentrate on the lesson.*

*Phrack.* Kal leaned back and pouted. *No one ever said that Interfaces were worse than grandmothers for nagging—how do Citizen's live with this awful constant nattering? I think something is *wrong* with you. *

*static*--Kal-El. It is true. There have been changes. I apologize for interfering in your life. An interface is meant to increase the quality of life, not worsen it. I will be silent now.*

*No—no, wait—don't go--* "I'm sorry!"

The tall blonde boy stopped in front of his table. "Sorry—for staring?"

"I—I—yes. I am sorry for staring but you are very handsome." Kal stopped and waited for the disapproving voice he'd learned to expect but it didn't come. He smiled a little. 

"Handsome? Well…thanks, I guess..."

Kal nodded enthusiastically, asked, "What is your name? I am called Kal-El." 

The boy gaped at him for a long moment and shrugged, chuckled. "Whitney…you're something else all right. Nervy."

"Oh, did I do something wrong?" Kal colored a little and dropped his eyes. "I'm not from around here--" he stumbled, "I mean—I'm from Fra—Italy."

"Oh, *foreign*." Whitney said, as thought that explained everything. "I guess you must be the person staying with the Kents."

"You've heard of me?"

"Hell, yeah, small town, news travels fast. Real fast." He glanced back at Lana and then at Kal. "What are you doing later on?"

Kal stared. *Rao willing, getting laid.* "Oh, nothing… watching the far seeing tube…the idiot box—television."

"Ooo-kay…"

"Would you care to visit? Maybe we can get to know each other." Kal grinned wide, and Whit nodded, and nodded…

"I see you've met Kal."

Whitney jumped a little and Kal watched his face as he talked to Lana and smiled. This was going to be a good evening. 

"Hey Lana, Kal's invited us to his place tonight."

*Kal did no such thing,* Kal thought and wanted to smack Whitney, who apparently had no concept of 'date'. Oh well, he thought. Perhaps Martha Kent would make popcorn, the evening shouldn’t be a total waste.

"Oh, isn't that sweet, but we can't. I promised Nell I'd help her in the shop later on tonight—inventory or some thing…" Lana looked sad that she couldn't go, and Kal felt a strange urgent need to apologize.

Whit broke in, "Well, okay, I'll just run over to Kal's and catch up with you...tomorrow, okay?"

"But Whit, aren’t you going to help--"

"Lana, flowers and stuff like that don’t fit with me. Tell Nell I said hi." In an undertone to Kal he said, watching Lana switch her hips to the door, "Her aunt's a cast iron bitch. Since I lost my football scholarship, she doesn’t want Lana to have anything to do with me. I guess I'm not husband material anymore. She's got her sights on another guy—Nell, I mean." He laughed. "Fat chance of anything happening with the guy she's picked out." Whit smiled and winked at him, and Kal copied the gesture, because it was adorable and obviously meant something.

Jonathan came strolling in at that moment. "Hey, son, ready to go? Oh, hi Whit, we haven’t seen you since Alexander was down last—you coming by?"

"Yeah, if it's okay with you, sir. Kal here was going to show me some pictures and stuff from his country, right Kal?"

"Oh, yes indeed, he seemed most interested, most interested."

Jonathan looked from boy to boy and sighed deeply. "Sure, pictures. Okay. But Kal, help me unload the truck first?"

"I will help you unload, Jon-Than. It will be my pleasure," he said aloud and frantically tried to activate the AI.

"Lord, boy—are you okay? You're twitching like a bull with a bee up it's butt."

Silence in his head, and it was beginning to scare him…"Oh, fine, just—I'm, uh, I have a little headache."


	8. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, Our Hero Strikes Out On His Own

The AI remained silent all the ride home, no matter how Kal-El asked, cajoled and outright begged. Jonathan watched him from the corner of his eye almost all the way home, until Kal finally stopped twitching, at least from Jonathan's point of view. Kal gave up trying to get the AI to respond to him. 

Whitney pulled up a few minutes after they arrived at Kent Farms, and Kal made excuses to retire to the loft with Whit. He was so excited—finally! An Earth boy. He wondered how different it would be…he hoped he hadn’t misread the interest in Whitney's eyes. That would be disappointing, very much so.

Footsteps on the wooden stairs made Kal heart thump, and then the golden boy was smiling at him. "Kal…oh. They left Alexander's posters up." 

Whit stood at the top of the stairs, swiveled his head around. "I miss him. Too bad you won’t get to know him. He would have liked you." Whit grinned and came into the loft. "You're just his type, tall, hot, built and weird."

Kal had been about to smile, until he heard weird. He knew what that meant. It was not a compliment, and he'd be miffed later, but at the moment, Whitney was moving towards where Kal perched on the arm of the couch, like a—a—cat. A big one, not the little creaky kind of sneaky cats that slinked around the barn, one of those big striped ones that licked their lips and made you fall into their eyes and forget you were dinner, he thought. He shivered, and felt himself swell. Oh, he really wanted to be dinner. Just the thought that Whitney wanted to give himself made him feel like—like—a great many dollars---a million of them. 

"Ah, Whit-Ney. You did not bring your—" He switched through meanings, much harder to do without the help of the AI, but he didn’t need a mean and critical intelligence to belittle him whilst serving up over-large helpings of ice cold information…"Girlfriend!" He shouted triumphantly which might not have been the best thing to do—Whit looked at him rather strangely. 

"Uhm…you know why I'm here, right? I mean, sometimes a man just has to do what a man has to do." Whit laughed at his own joke. 

"Oh. Well she certainly would have been welcome to join us, I don’t normally have sex with women, but she was rather pretty, and 'When in—in—Rome, do as the--

"Oh my gawd, hell no! I don’t want her in—with—doing--this! Besides, she'd probably stroke out if I suggested it—look, try not to kill the mood, okay? I mean, her aside, sometimes I like getting fucked, and you looked like a nice tall glass of fuck me stupid." Whit walked up to him and between his knees and pressed himself hard against him. "I hope everything's as big as your hands—and your feet. I brought a little something with me." He took something from his pocket. Kal looked at the little foil packets in confusion. Snacks? Something religious, a sacrifice of some sort? He stopped wondering when Whit walked his fingers over the bulge pressing against fabric. 

"If we were both naked," he said, and wiggled his fingers, "this would be even more interesting."

"I can see that, yes…" Kal gasped.

Whit leaned his head forward, kissed along the side of Kal's neck, and it felt wonderful even without whiskers to tickle him…Whit sucked and nibbled at the tender skin under his jaw, and steadily unbuttoned Kal's shirt. 

Kal felt it only fair to unbutton Whit's, and hands bumped and nudged and got in each other's way, Kal popped a button or two off Whit's shirt, and made him laugh.

In the middle of laughing, they over-balanced, Kal fell of the couch, knocking Whit with him and they ended up on the floor in a giggling pile of arms and legs. Whit finally managed to get both their pants off, and they were naked and happy and touching all over.

Whit licked a long wet stripe up Kal's chest and stopped to thoroughly explore a nipple, before moving on to press his tongue in the crease of his armpit, a move Kal heartily and vocally approved of. "Wow, you're really hot," Whit gasped. 

This word, Kal knew. "Thank you," he said, and Whit shook his head. 

"No, I mean you're hot, fever hot—do you feel all right?" Whit laid his hand against Kal's forehead, Whit's fingers felt cool against his skin, cool and…hot, at once.

"Oh, yes--" Damn his alien biology… "I tend to have a high body temperature…and you're also making me hot. You are very sexy."

Whit grinned. "Thanks. And you're hot like *that* too. So, do Italians say hot like we do?"

"Ital--? Oh, yes, goodness, we are forever calling each other hot—'how is your grandmother today and by the way, you’re hot.' We never stop."

Whit pressed his hand over Kal's mouth. "Stop," he murmured. "Other uses for mouth and tongue."

Kal nodded, and whirled Whit around; he had a definite use for tongue—wondered if Whit would enjoy it as much as his furry double. 

The answer was yes, Yes, yes, oh fucking hell yes, oh my gawd, yes…Kal found that the yellow sun not only made him invincible, gave him x-ray vision, heat vision, the ability to fly, but it also made his tongue a vibratory marvel.

Whitney groaned and cried, and ripped at the sheet Kal threw on the floor, an act of mercy for Whit's knees. Kal lifted him just a bit more, opening him wider, and drilled his tongue into the little bud, forcing it open. 

"Kal. Kal, I—I think I'm going to come!" Whit sounded completely surprised, and his voice broke, his skin trembled under Kal's hands. 

"Wait, Whit-Ney, do not come--" Kal reared back and lined himself up with the wet hole but Whit stopped him, dragged himself to his feet..

"Unh, uhn. Rubber first. And don’t think this isn't costing me," he groaned.

"Rubb—condom--contraception—goodness, Whit. Is it possible for males to get pregnant on your—ouch!" A painful blast of static made Kal wince. *oh, so you're not going to talk to me but you will fry my brain? Nice that—plus you almost made me lose my erection.*

"What? Are you sure you're Italian?" Whit searched messily through the pile of clothing. "—because I'm thinking that sounds more crazy than foreign here--" he muttered to himself "…found it!" he yelped. "Hurry, before I die!" Whit was still hard, red and dripping, and Kal leaned forward to take a curious lick—and an explosion took place on his tongue. Never had such taste, such flavor, filled his mouth. There were amazing nuances of flavor, salt, and sweet, a little bitter and…there was a piquant hint of onion—the amazing flavor filled his mouth, and seeped into his throat and he swallowed and Whit yowled—grabbed his hair and thrust forward. Kal enjoyed the feel of hardness pressing into the back of his throat and more. "Oh god, Kal stop, I will come if you don't…"

Kal turned him, and held him over his lap, licked down the length of his spine and tickled his hole again, as Whit unrolled the rubber down over his penis.

"Oh, man, it's…yeah, I knew those feet weren't lying. Take your time getting in…"

Kal lifted him, and let Whit slide down, let him set the pace himself—before he expected it, he was entirely sheathed inside of him.

"Oh fuck—you’re so fucking hot, and big and…" he lifted and moved and Kal yelped. He looked down his body, and watched his penis sink into Whit, over and over, Whit squeezed and released him in a rhythm that made him want to scream, and fuck him as hard as he could—which he couldn’t do, because he had the feeling the results would be horrific and really really messy….

"Oh, Whit-Ney, you look so beautiful on me, you feel like you were made for me, so tight, and warm, squeeze me again like that—ah!"

Whit bent over his knees and moaned. Kal moved and felt something give in Whit, some loosening, or tensing, something shifted and Whit trembled from head to toe, trembled again, and hissed. "Shii-iit, I think—I think--" he threw himself backward, and his head hit Kal's shoulder, his hair flew and strands stuck to Kal's cheek, his lips, Whit moaned louder and louder, and trembled in a wave—his cock jerked and spilled, jets of come struck his chest, Kal's legs, and the added tightness as Whit tensed finished Kal off—the urge to come filled him, it rose and flung him into ecstasy, he dug his fingers into his own legs and let go with a shout.

It was beyond wonderful, more satisfying than anything he'd ever experienced, he was floating in a cloud of blissful release—he was floating—oh dear--

"Holy fuck!!! What the fuck?!?"

And he was falling.

Two events occurred simultaneously. Whit fell off his lap, and stared at him in horrified shock, and Jonathan Kent stood at the top of the stair and stared at him in horrified shock. 

"Oh Rao's teeth--" This was not good. This was surpassing any sentient being's definition of not good—

*Kal-El! Re-cloth yourself immediately, and prepare to run* Yes! In a blur of hyper enhanced speed, Kal threw his clothes back on, and as an after-thought, wrapped Whit in a blanket. To the humans, it was as if Kal disappeared and in the blink of an eye, reappeared clothed 

"Oh, my gawd…" Whit swallowed hard, shook all over and said, "That was the damn best I've ever *ever* had…"

Kal and Jonathan looked at him. 

"What? It was! I mean, yeah, floating—scary, but wow--oh!" It seemed as if it suddenly occurred to Whit who he was talking to—he blushed from head to toe. "Mr. Kent—oh shit."

"Whit, you might want to get dressed, and…maybe run along, now."

Whit nodded.

"And Whit…keep this to yourself, son?"

"Of course!" Whit was a son of Smallville, and Smallvillians ingested 'don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t see' with mother's milk—

'What was that? A giant radioactive poodle? Oh please, how five minutes ago!'  
'What's that you say? A boy made of bugs? I can't heeear yoooo…'

Survival of the willfully clueless. That and the fact that they could live with heat eating boys and fat sucking girls but gay quarterbacks they'd beat the shit out of….

~o0o~

Jonathan walked around the loft and Kal just wanted to run away. "You…you seem to have something extra about you, Kal."

Kal hung his head, sorrow warring with embarrassment. "Thank you, Jonathan," he sniffed,and wiped away the fat tear threatening to drop off the end of his nose, "but really, I'm of barely average size; we tend to be a wee bit bigger than most Earthers, but not in girth I see--"

"I'm not talking about that--"

*He's not talking about that--*

Kal jumped, and blushed redder than a beet. "Oh—no, of course not, you mean the floating—the--oh dear. Please don’t be afraid of me…"

Believe me son; it's not the floating that scares me." He looked at Kal askance. "Are all the guys in Italy so—?"

"Strange? Odd?"

Jonathan smiled, a warm friendly smile that lit Kal up inside and made him feel Jor-El's hand on him. "I was going to say innocent." He laughed. "You really are, in a bizarre sort of way. Come on downstairs after you've…cleaned up—dressed." he coughed and blushed himself, and retreated quickly. 

"Yes sir."

* Kal-El…*

"If you make me feel bad," Kal-El warned, "I'll just cry, and that won't help us. What do we do now?"

"We leave, quickly, and quietly."

"But the Kents—they will think I disrespect them. I can’t leave, anyway. The harvest's about to start, and they need help--"

* Kal-El, this is the reason we should have entered stasis and waited. You've become attached, and you cannot afford to become attached. You are an alien creature---and with all primitives, the need to destroy the outsider is an instinct. They will not want to harm you, might not mean to but they will. *

"How the hells can they harm me? I'm invincible, immortal, remember? I'm one of a gods damn kind, and you seem more than ready to have me live my life friendless and alone. How can you be so phracking sure that someone's coming? How can you know? I *can't* live alone forever—I just *can't*!"

The AI was silent, as Kal sobbed quietly into the fist he held over his mouth. The pleasant feeling he'd felt with Whit was gone; the warmth Jonathan had given him was gone. He felt icy cold, alone….

* The Kents are speaking of you, Kal-El. You must—*

Kal yelled, one short scream of rage and frustration and grief, and in an instant he was miles and miles away.

 

He slumped to the ground in the middle of a wheat field. His body shook with heavy breaths. 

* Kal-El, there is some possible good news here. *

Kal laughed, the AI ignored him and continued. * When I was able to hear the Kents, they spoke of a green stone, and the effect this stone had on a man they called Alexander. They refer to the stones as meteorites—the remains of another planet, perhaps…if we retrieve pieces, they may tell us where we are. With luck, we may not be as far from the Dominion as I first thought. *

Kal discovered he could hear the Kents even from the distance he was. He blinked tears away and concentrated—"They also say…that Alexander was affected and I might be too. They have seen this type of unusual behavior from other humans! Maybe I should go back, and...they'd just think I was a...a…meteor mutant. That' what they call it. I can go back and be with fam—with a family."

* Kal-El. Let us first find the green stone and analyze it, and then we can decide on our next course of action. *

Kal sighed. * I hope we can go back soon. The beautiful Martha Kent is so much like my mother, and the handsome Jonathan Kent is like my father in a soft mood—*you* are like him when he acts as if he has a sapling lodged in his sphincter. * 

After a moment of silence, the AI directed him back to the cave the suit was hidden in.


	9. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, A Dangerous Situation

The evening wore on in near silence as Kal did the minor maintenance the AI directed him to on the suit. After, he wandered idly about the area of the cave, picking and nibbling berries, watched the tiny warm-blooded life forms that lived nearby, and the glowing insects that bobbed and weaved in the grasses. He watched the sun sink, and was mesmerized by the magic the sky preformed as it slowly got darker …clouds dipped and changed, glowed with color: gold first, and then a hint of tangerine deepening to rose, finally a deep purple. "Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?" Kal sighed. 

*The effect is caused by the longer distance light must travel through the atmosphere as the sun lowers--the shorter blue wavelengths are being blocked and thus--*

"Can you pretend to enjoy it? Please…just to make me happy?"

Again the AI was silent. Kal stared up at the sky, watching the color go deeper and deeper until it was velvet navy and one after the other, stars slowly began to appear. He heard, *It is a very lovely sky, Kal.*

"Thank you," he said quietly, and high above, stars glittered like gems, and the moon smiled down, as beautiful as one of Rao's Daughters. "I miss the Dancing Dragons," he said. 

*The constellation more properly know as--*

Kal sighed, and the voice went on, *I mean—yes, the Dancing Dragons. I'm sorry, Kal, that the Dragons are very far away. *

* Me too, oh Interface mine, me too.*

~o0o~

Morning came, and Kal oriented himself to the directions the AI gave him. He ran lightly along the edge of the ridge above the cave and jumped—he dropped a few feet and then—bobbled upwards towards the clouds.

"Look! Look—I'm flying! I knew it would be wonderful!" Kal whipped his arms upwards, and wobbled up a little faster. "I thought of the Whit-Ney, and the truly amazing sex and—wha-hoo! I floated!" He grinned from ear to ear, and rose even faster, and higher. "Is this not incredible?"

A burst of static that didn't make his ears feel like they were itching on the inside filled his head for a second—it was almost like—chuckling, but that wasn't possible, Kal thought.

~o0o~

Kal flew higher and higher until he had to use enhanced vision to see the earth below. Eventually he picked up a difference in the sea of planted fields below him. There was a section of field where the corn grew oddly; the stalks seemed to spiral towards the sun…Kal rolled lazily in the air until his feet were pointed at the ground again. He let himself drift downward, enjoying the unblocked sun on his skin, the warm wind flowing over him—he anticipated quickly grabbing a few samples of meteorite, and letting the AI play with them, and then—back to the closest thing to home he had here.

He hovered for a moment. *Is there any spot in particular I should start, Innty?* 

*Innty? I beg your pard--*

A burst of sound interrupted the both of them, sound not related to Kal, the AI or the world below him. "What was that—?"

The burst came again—a sharp blast of static, and then, garbled noise that rose and fell, and Kal suddenly realized the drone was language…"I know that—that's Daxama!" The burst of sound went through several different languages quickly and then—"Kryptonese! "

*I believe we've found a probe* the AI said, and Kal thought he caught a hint of relief in the uninflected voice. *That indicates we aren't too far out of Dominion space, Kal. This is excellent news. We need only recover the probe--*

"Great!" Kal dropped down, following the sound pf the probe. He was a few feet over the earth when he was suddenly struck with pain so intense it confused him; he lost all sense of direction and slammed into the soil, throwing up a huge plume of dirt and glowing shards of rock. Kal screamed as his blood boiled and burned him from the inside…night creeped in from the sides of the world…

*Kal-El! Kal-El! Kal…KAL!* The AI shouted out to the air, "Help! I need help! "

The uninflected machine tone of the AI fragmented, static altered it's sound, words broke and crackled. "Kal, crawl towards the trees, away from the rock, Kal—Kal!"

*The suit! I will call the suit, Kal-El. You will be safe.*

*Hold on Kal…*

*Please.*

Kal groaned, and nodded, a bare shudder of movement. *I will.* His eyes fluttered shut and he had no idea how long he was out, in his head, a calm soothing voice recited poetry, sang lullabies his mother sang him…the voice was a lifeline in the middle of a void full of pain…he wandered in the dark, but the voice kept him on the path and….

There was a crunching noise all around him, and a lessening of the pain. It became bearable…

~o0o~

He was rolling back and forth, and he knew he was on Granddad's boat—they were boating on the Great Crystal Lake, and Grand-dad was going to teach him to fish. He was on the bow, just him and Nanny and Rwfrtz—Nanny was waving her arms about to make him laugh, and Rwfrtz kissed him on the nose…licked his nose…cried on his nose….

Kal opened his eyes; the suit had him. It was standing in the little lake near the cave, washing the dirt and chunks of rock from his skin and clothing. The pain was gone. He was safe. 

*Kal-El. You are awake. I recorded the message of the probe, I believe it is actually a buoy--*

Kal interrupted bitterly, "I'm fine, thanks for asking. A little sore, almost died, but I'm fine now, thanks. Put me down," he ordered the suit. It held him in iron hard arms until the AI directed it to do so. Kal staggered to his feet. 

*Kal…*

"Quiet! Please, just--be silent. Let me hear the message—and don’t dump it all at—waaaa—oook—" 

The message of the probe flashed in and filled Kal's mind.

*To all Citizens of the Dominion—the area that is Krypton space is forbidden to all Citizens born on, or of parents born on Krypton by order of His Majesty Kan-El the tenth, by the Grace of Rao, Ruler of Krypton and of the Dominion, Supreme Commander and Hammer of justice, Right Hand of Rao who rules from New Kryptonopolis, on Daxam as of this date--*

"But…the date…" Kal staggered, fell to his knees in the water. The date was seventy-five years in the future. "Seventy-five years? How is it possible?"

* The wormhole must have effected time as well. What was to you a few months sleep…*

Kal sloshed out of the water and threw himself on the shore of the lake. Tears streamed unheeded from his eyes. "My parents are gone—my world is gone! There's nothing…nothing…" He closed his eyes, pressed fingers tight against his eyelids. The bank under him seemed to whirl, tilt under him…"I'm the last one…"

*The capital exists—the Dominion exists. Refugees are on Daxam. You must not despair.*

*Must not despair?* Kal laughed a very long time.

~o0o~

*The meteorite positively contains elements that mark it as Kryptonian. I believe that these meteorites are the end result of a chain of cataclysmic events--the explosion of Krypton, the conversion of planetary remnants into a poisonous element. The force of the explosion may have carried fragments here, possibly knocking the buoy out of orbit and here to Earth…perhaps they also went through the wormhole…I can't give you more information. I'm sorry, Kal.*

"Sorry…? What's left of my world tried to kill me, my family have all surely died of old age, I have no where to go, and—and—we're no where near the Dominion, and you're sorry? Let us not play games. I'm alone here, and will always be alone. I just have to accept that." He watched the suit sluice remnants of dangerous Krypton from itself, and march back into the depths of the cave. "I won’t go back to Smallville—I have to move forward. I have a life to build. We will go on—to Metropolis. I can build some sort of life for myself there…find a place for me on this backward little planet. Not that it doesn't have its charms, of course."

*Kal-El.*

"What? What am I doing wrong *now*, for Rao's sake? " 

* I wished to tell you that…I find you to be a very brave and admirable being. You've conducted yourself like royalty throughout what has been a trying and personally devastating experience. I'm proud to know you. You are never alone as long as I function. *

Kal felt a prick of tears, and his chest felt warm…"I—thank you. Thank you very much, old Interface. I couldn't think of a better companion to spend my time with. Except, you know--"

*Yes, yes, no need to elaborate. *

*So…do you listen in when I have sex? Do you record it in any way? Because if you do--*

* STATIC *


	10. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, A New Day Dawns

Interlude: Metropolis

It was warm—hell, it was sticky and muggy, and Lex was desperately grateful for the cool interior of the limo—the short walk from elevator doors to the car had been more than enough to bring up sweat, flowing freely over his smooth scalp. He grimaced as he settled himself into the car---he felt a wayward drop work it's way around that—that lump on the back of his head and down his neck. He wiped it away and growled into the intercom, "Saunders—"

"Yes, sir, newsstand, Coffee Drop."

"Yes." Lex broke the connection and leaned back. He set the air conditioner a bit cooler, checked the time—he had thirty minutes before his required appearance at LuthorCorp towers, more than enough time for his morning treat. His phone tingled against his thigh, and he slipped it out of his pocket with a sigh. He glanced down…yep. Right on time, his daily reminder call. He answered, "Yes, yes, I know— be in the office by eight, the meeting's at ten. If I were anymore ready for this, I'd explode."

"Now, son, take a deep breath and repeat, 'I will not shower the board room with Lex chunks.' There will be no exploding. The Kyoto bunch will be more than impressed with you—with us. We'll lock down the deal, and the board will dance naked in the streets. Which--ick. Don't let that influence you." 

Lex laughed, "Thanks, now I've got naked Winston Marsh dancing in my head—a waking nightmare." A bit of the nervousness he felt melted. Pamela always knew what to say, how to motivate him, to make him feel good. "Talk to you in a bit, love."

She blew him a kiss and hung up.

Pamela. Of the very few people that he trusted—loved—Pamela was number one. He hadn't managed to alienate her, hadn't managed to chase her away. In fact—the worse he got, the more she hung on. 

He felt his eyes sting and wiped hard—God—this came of having sentimental thoughts before his morning coffee. Thinking of Pamela made him think of Uncle Jonathan, and Aunt Martha. He felt a little lick of shame--been too long since he'd last called them, too damn long. He made a note to call them as soon as he got in the office—Jon and Martha should be just about finishing breakfast about the time he called. If he timed it right, they could have their coffee together—unless Jonathan managed to trash the vidcam again…

He tapped his fingers on the rear seat console and blew out an impatient breath. Traffic was heavy this morning; the drive was taking longer than normal. The LCorpTowers crawled past, his coffee shop and news stand were about half block beyond them. He stared at the glass and steel monoliths, almost all that remained of Lionel Luthor--his dearly departed father, a man whose heart was identical in size and warmth to a raisin, not to impugn a fine lunchbox snack….

There were few things that Lex was certain of, but that the man's death was probably the best thing that could have happened to him, he *was* sure of. Even now, fifteen years later, he remembered the mind games the man played, all in an effort to make him 'strong', fit to run LuthorCorp on his own…bastard. 

The memory of the last time he'd played the game still made him sweat. That fucking helicopter flight into hell, the trip to Smallville Dad arranged just so he could watch him lord it over some poor sucker and on the way, badger him unmercifully about his fear of flying…'course, it hadn't quite worked out that way. 

The meteor storm that raged that day was like the fist of God--it took out the tacky sign that proclaimed Smallville as the Creamed Corn Capital of the World, took out portions of Smallville itself, a few poor faultless inhabitants, and thank the Lord, Satan's lapdog, Lionel Luthor. Struck down in his prime in a country cornfield by a chunk of space faring rock, Lionel never knew what hit him. Too bad about that, Lex thought.

Lex rubbed his hand over his scalp and shuddered. The loss of his hair seemed a small price to pay for release from years of mental abuse. Thank God, that chain was broken. His mother's death a few short months after had been a devastating blow to him, but with her death the last of the secrets he'd had to carry were gone. He sighed, love and exasperation mingled in one breath...he'd loved his mother but truthfully, she was about as fit to parent as Lionel had been. Not that it mattered, at the time he thought the universe was out to get him, and he hated everyone, even Pamela, who struggled through the loss of her very best friend in all the world and suddenly finding out she had an international company to run and a child to raise.

Lex grinned ruefully. Aaaand, of course, true Luthor that he was, he reacted to having something pure and good in his life by acting out. Oh, he'd been bearable for a few years, but puberty hit with all the force of a freight train from hell. He changed from a sad little ghost of a boy into a perfectly horrible brat, determined to make his guardian prove over and over that she really *did* love him, and not the money. He shook his head. He'd been such a monster, and truly, it was a wonder he hadn't died. Hell, if he didn’t have the odd ability to withstand almost any assault on his system, he might have.

The limo slowed almost to a standstill…

The intercom clicked on. "Sorry, sir, traffic is ridiculous this morning…seems like there's something going on up ahead. Accident, maybe."

"It's fine, Saunders, I'll just have to be quick about coffee this morning."

"Yes sir, that would be a shame…" and the intercom went dead again. 

"Shut up," Lex muttered, and checked the time again—if worst came to worse, he'd hop out and walk the half block back to LuthorCorp. He closed his eyes, let the seat back cradle his head and wandered back down memory lane—

The last straw had been when Pamela had to bail him out of jail, covered in vomit and…other fluids. He'd been so damn messed up that it was a miracle he'd survived the ride to jail…lots of Luthor money changed hands that night. Pamela, saint that she was, instead of shoving him into a burlap bag with a few cinderblocks and dropping him off the nearest pier, packed herself and him up and moved out to the country. He'd imagined back then that it meant something awful that she chose Smallville, but instead, it saved his life.

Over the years, they'd kept in contact with the Kents, the folks who'd found him unconscious and barely breathing that day in the cornfield and took care of him for the few days it took to find out who he was and contact his frantic mother…even as short a time as it was, he'd bonded with them as surely as if *they* were his parents. In better times, he'd spent many magical summers with them, before he turned into a miserable little fuck and screwed up his life almost to the point of no return. 

Uncle Jon and Aunt Martha let it be known in no uncertain terms that they were disappointed and angry and…it was the best thing that could have happened in his life then. 

He fought his way back, to respect, to decency, to become the kind of person Jon and Martha and Pamela would be proud of, and he never forgot the lessons…

The limo came to a stop, and he leaned towards the window and looked out. Thick black smoke poured from a building a block away—there were fire trucks in the street and traffic was being directed around barriers to side streets. He watched firemen and cops dash around, he could smell smoke…some odd movement caught his eye; a blur, and when he blinked, a tall man was setting a frightened little girl down on the curb. He held a finger over his lips, and she smiled and nodded. The tall man stood up and seemed to look Lex's way, which was silly, no one could see through the tinted glass. He was…incredible. Beautiful. His hair was wet, drops fell from his dark curls, chiseled cheekbones, full lips...Lex desperately wanted to be one of those drops rolling over his full lower lip. Long lashes dipped over wide green eyes and if Lex was the kind of guy who believed in love at first sight, he'd swear he just fell in love. But he didn’t so this feeling couldn't be love, it must be lust. Lust that filled his brain and kicked him in his gut and then a break in the traffic pulled him away…he swiveled in his seat to get one last look and he swore the godling was looking right at him, mouth open, eyes wide—sure he was, if he could see through steel and glass…and if he could, more than likely he'd sneer. _'Freak.'_

Lex shook himself. Right. Forget the vision. Prepare for the Coffee Drop. Sad that the extent of his love life lately was staring at the kid behind the counter. Well, staring at his ass…it was a pretty darn good ass.

The meeting went just as he and Pamela had planned, and that evening, he left for Smallville, and Uncle Jon's for a well deserved rest.


	11. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, A Welcome Port In A Storm

"Oh…did you see? Did you see? He was…he was the Warrior Angel! He was beautiful, so smooth, and sleek—did you see his eyes?"

*Hide yourself Kal; people will question your appearance.*

"Oh, yes, of course." He gave the little girl a final sooty hug and told her to run right to the nice police officer and slipped back into the alley. He ran quickly to an abandoned building that he'd been using as a base since he'd arrived in the city. 

The AI announced *You now have new information in the system, we will receive money and rent living quarters and then…*

"We will get a job!"

Kal cleaned himself and set his coverall to reflect the fashions he'd observed to be popular in the city. Dirt and soot fell away at another touch, he dragged fingers through his hair, and once again, he was presentable. 

 

The city was strangely like any other city in the Dominion, full of people intent on the business of their lives, without much left over for other folk. They walked head down, or eyes fixed on some infinite point so as not to make eye contact…the few that actually noticed Kal found their comfortable routines shaken a bit….

Kal smiled and flirted with everyone as he walked the city streets. The AI assured him that all was in order, and they could collect money at the next available ateaehm—one of the huge varieties of strange non-sentient machines the Earthers depended on. He found them fascinating—he found everything about the city fascinating, from the buildings, to the colorful and incredibly varied personal transport—he found the fact that the Earther city was not as alien as he thought it would be, also fascinating.

Kal was silent, open to sound and smell and sight--enjoying the show as Earthers of many beautiful shades and shapes and colors strolled by. He nearly walked past the coffee shop but the smell stopped him. The fragrance slinked into his nostrils, laid down a trail of scent that made Kal's eyes nearly roll back in his head…the wonderful many layered scent…so many deep rich tones…he moaned quietly to himself. They had to get money *now*—he had to have the Coffee this very instant. Kal looked into the large window and watched the handsome servers, in their crisp uniforms, serve the Beverage to the eagerly waiting citizens. They were all of them bright and smiling, every one of them cheerful and full of love for the wonderful brew they gifted to the eagerly waiting folk. They worked in concert to bring joy--Kal froze—

Work…work with….

With a voice full of wonder, of hope, he asked the AI, " Can…can I get a job here?"

*Apply, Kal. We shall see…perhaps you can be employed here. You have a sterling record, after all* it said, and the words were followed with a short soft burst of static. 

The following morning, the Coffee Drop hired its newest employee--Kal King.

~o0o~

He visited one of the clever money machines, and came away with many pieces of the somber green paper printed with the visages of various dyspeptic men—dollars, they were named--and the AI offered Kal a few addresses to visit.

*An apartment is a necessary requirement, Kal-El. There are many available dwellings that are reasonably priced, and well situated. You may wish to 'entertain', and an apartment is preferable to a bench in the park.*

*Was that a joke?* Kal asked incredulously. *Will Rao's wonders never cease--you are starting to unbend aren’t you? And gosh, yes, I wish to entertain. Did you notice that one of the servers had a spectacular lower body—ass, they call it here. Isn't that a clever word? So short and yet, so evocative. "Aaahhhsss," he crooned. *Yes. I like it.*

*I beg you, for Rao's sake, focus, Kal. Apartment—now. And please be sure not to float.*

*Yes, yes, no floating, focus…krell, so much for you unbending,* he groused.

They looked at several apartments, but the one Kal chose was an old building, once a private home in a neighborhood that in the past had been considered exclusive. The house now containing several apartments, reached from a sweeping spiral staircase of iron and granite. Kal loved the swirls of metal that decorated the railing; he loved the marble floor, the stained glass windows--*This is it, Innty, this will be our new home.*

*Innty? Kal, I would prefer--*

*Oops, hold that thought—here's the landlord's apartment,* he said, and banged on the door. It was opened by a scowling woman, her hair pulled back in a bun as severe as her expression. 

"Yes?" She fixed him with a steely glare, "Speak up, I don’t have all day to spend in my doorway, you know. I'm a busy woman."

Kal was charming, mildly flirtatious, just enough to make the landlady unthaw, make her flutter and blush and rent out the small apartment for a little less than she'd meant to. She had no idea how that happened. She looked up into warm green eyes and was blinded by a smile full of brilliant white teeth…the next thing she knew, she was back in her apartment holding a signed lease and having a vague memory of a hand the size of Kansas wrapping around hers, warm, soft, such beautifully manicured fingers…fingers…hand…handshake yes, that was what it was called….

~o0o~

Anna, the manager of the Coffee Drop, watched Kal serve a cup with a flourish, a wink, and a throaty 'come again.' She almost did.

Kal was driving everyone crazy—no one could pin down what direction he danced in. He flirted as enthusiastically with men as with women. He stared as longingly into the eyes of a seventy year old man as into the eyes of a seventeen year old girl's. He made as much fuss over a chubby, harried housewife as he did over a crisp and spa tanned business man—and one and all, regardless of age or gender, responded to Kal. It was as if, she thought in awe, he gave off some sort of pheromone that made him irresistible. Maybe alien sex spores--God, he was unreal hot—no one could be that hot and be human. She wondered if the other guys in his village over in Italy were as hot. If they were, she knew what she was saving her money for in the future…as for right now, her short range goals were simple--nail Kal King. And brag about it forever.

~o0o~

At the very moment Anna was thinking about Kal, another of the Coffee Drop's employees, Brent, was having rather similar thoughts as he filled filters with the house blend. Kal was a—a—well, all he could say was heaven must be missing an angel. And he intended to blow that angel before the week was out. Brent shifted a little—darn, he'd have to wait for his erection to wilt before he could go out on the floor—again.

~o0o~

Ernie wondered idly if maybe he should try buying his pants a size smaller—lately fewer customers were 'accidentally' knocking their change off the counter to fall behind the bar, necessitating a slow leisurely bend-over to retrieve it. He didn't mind giving a little floor show if it meant bigger tips. He grinned, grabbed an oatmeal bar to chew on as he reflected on the current turn of events.

"You better pay for that, you don't get free cookie bars!"

He ignored Anna's bleat of outrage, and thought hard. Okay, the girls were giggling and blushing all over that Kal, and the guys were looking at him like he was a big dripping steak…and sure, he was straight, but he didn’t mind guys checking him out if it meant bigger tips and what the hell, Ernie knew he looked damn good—but Kal. Kal was the fly in his ornament. Kal was too damn good looking, and he was cutting into his tips. Maybe he should talk to him, let him know what was what in *this* country, not like it was in Balkanstan, or wherever the heck he was from.

Ernie finished the oatmeal bar, and dusted crumbs from his hands. He wandered back over to the serving counter, wiping long smeary streaks across it with a damp rag and ignoring the glares Anna shot at him. They all knew she needed to get laid. If he wasn't a faithful boyfriend—well mostly if she wasn't so chunky, he'd do it himself. Hell, if it got her off his back, he might do her anyway. It wouldn't be cheating; it'd be like—a good deed, like Little Red Robin Hood, or whoever. 

It didn't help that Daddy Warmbucks hadn’t been into the shop in a while either. Man, that bald dude was always good for a twenty or more. That time he'd dripped the whipped cream down his shirt—Ernie felt a little tingle somewhere between his navel and his knees—man, he thought rich boy was going to come right there. It was kind of cute, in a way. 

He glanced over at Kal, all bright-eyed and red cheeked and so sincere…yeah, he was kind of cute too, cute like a giant puppy. Damn it. He was gonna buy his pants two sizes smaller….


	12. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, The Tide Turns

The afternoon crowd was thinning out. Anne told Brent and Ernie to hold down the counter, and asked Kal to come into the back with her—she wanted to discuss a few points about the job with him. Some very important and possibly big point…erm…points. She walked him back to the cubby that served as her office, and invited him to take a seat near her desk.

 

As she settled behind the tiny metal desk, and shuffled through papers importantly, Kal waited patiently, a dreamy smile on his face as the varied scents of the different coffees stroked the inside of his nose. He was in a little coffee flavored world of his own, a lovely caffeinated bubble that burst when Anna laid her hand high on his thigh. 

*Kal…caution, I suspect she may be up to no good…*

*I'm…I think you may be correct. She's certainly up to my...eep*

She squeezed his leg, kneaded the muscle in the inside of his thigh, and Kal tried to disappear in his seat. "Is there—can I help you in some way?" Kal thanked Rao for his invulnerability. Anna had a heavy hand. It felt—rather nice. He tentatively parted his legs a bit more.

"Well, Cal…" She squeezed his leg. Hard. "How do you feel about sex with no entanglements? I know a lot of women say that—I'm sure you've probably heard it a million times, but seriously—No. Entanglements. None." Her plump little cheeks flushed and her eyes glittered.

"Oh dear…Anna, you're very attractive, you truly are, but--"

"Oh shit!" She yelped. "You're gay! Oh, it fucking figures—the hot ones are always fucking gay." She pouted, and probably would have stomped her feet, but for the lack of space.

"Gay?" Kal's nose wrinkled as the AI obligingly made information available. "Oh--yes--what a lovely word! Yes, that sums it up nicely. A perfect word to describe how I feel." He blushed faintly. "Not that you aren’t very attractive, and I'm sure you must have much attention from non gay men. The way you expose your breasts openly must garner quite a lot of interest from—from them…" Anna was climbing over his lap, and rubbing herself against him. "Oh my…have you considered redirecting your career and becoming a Greeter?" 

"What?" Anna was climbing over his lap, and rubbing herself against him… the pressure was just right, and warm, and his *penis* was interested in events, even if *he* wasn't quite so sure.

"Oh my…"

She snorted. "Have you ever *been* with a woman? At all, in any way?" She punctuated her words with little hip thrusts.

"Well…no…." He had hugged and kissed Nurse but he was pretty certain that didn’t count….

"Well then, how do you know you're gay—or exclusively gay?" Anna's look was one of triumph, the arch look of one who has presented an irrefutable argument. She folded her arms together under her ribcage, which just incidentally lifted her generous bosom higher. "We'll put that to the test right now, shall we?" She slid off his lap and dug around in her purse and came up with a handful of condoms. "There we go! Safety first," she said, and glowered at him. "No arguments."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Kal said. He knew he was supposedly invulnerable, but the look she gave him…he shivered, and not in anticipation. There was no turning back now. He watched in fascination as she unrolled the blue tinted condom over his penis, and had to admire the decorative effect; it really was quite festive, he wondered if Whit-Ney knew the little latex sheaths came in such lovely colors?….

Anna gave the performance of her life—she applied lip and tongue to several orifices with enthusiasm and vigor--Kal was impressed. If only she approached the Serving of Coffee with a tenth as much enthusiasm, he thought….she brought him close to a peak a few times, and finally, after Kal gently and breathlessly reminded her that their shift was nearly at an end, she climbed aboard, and let herself sink down on him.

 

"Oh—oh--oh my *God*!" She looked shocked, surprised, and very, very happy. He had to admit, it was an interesting sensation, and once he found the little nub that she referred to as her love button, but the AI informed him was a clitoris, things came to a head rather quickly.

After, he slid a floppy and dripping Anna back into her desk chair. He beamed down at her. "Thank you, Anna; I owe you a debt of gratitude!" 

Anna smiled, self satisfaction oozing out of her pores. She purred. "I told you. I can read a guy like an open boo--"

"Oh yes," Kal exclaimed, untangling shorts and chinos and hopping a little as he pulled his pants back up. "With your help, I know now that I'm definitely without a doubt gay. Yes. Women are…not my thing." He smiled wide, and threw the condoms in the trash, wiped at the desk chair.

"Hunh--*what*!"

"Oh, Rao yes, definitely. Not that it wasn't interesting, but," he whispered, and spots of red bloomed on his cheeks, "I was having some slight difficulty maintaining an erection."

"The fuck--difficulty? Which goddamn time?" Her eyes went wide. "How many times did it take for you to figure out—hey! Don’t think you can use this against me, you—you--" She swallowed and narrowed her eyes.

The door flew wide and Brent came in. "What's taking you so—*helloooo*…what's going on here?" he said, taking in a red faced and sweating Anna.

Anna was yanking her skirt down, flinging wet curls back from her forehead. "None of your business--"she began, and Kal cut in, helpful as ever.

"Anna was helping me discover that women are nice but not that sexually stimulating for me." 

"Geeeeeez, can I prove you’re gay?"

"Thank you very much Brent, but I'm quite assured on that point."

"Yes, but can I reinforce it? Later?"

Kal smiled at Brent and Anna. "Happily. But first—the Coffee!"

~o0o~

Ernie looked at Kal speculatively. "So…you like sucking dick? Really?" He licked his lips nervously. "You know, not that I'm curious or anything…just wondering. I, uh…I see guys looking at you and I just wonder, what is it that you guys do exactly?"

"Well…I can describe it for you--"

A half hour later, Ernie was sweating, gulping, and hard as a rock. "So…th--that's it, hunh?"

"Oh yes, do you and your girlfriend not do this, because I tell you, it's very much fun. Very much! You must convince her, Ernest."

"I don’t know Kal, I think we reached the pinochle of our love-life when I asked for, uhm…head, that one time..."

"I…beg you pardon? You wanted her head?" Kal could immediately see the problem with that request, how was it Ernest could not…

"You know, oral sex!"

"Oh! Head! Blow job, cock sucking..." His eyes went unfocused as he accessed the many euphemisms for fellatio.

Ernie looked at Kal for a long minute before patting him on his arm. "It's all right. You're foreign."

Kal smiled, and let his eyes rest on Ernie's sizable bulge. "I can help you with that, you know."

"Who me? Help? Oh no, no, I—I—yeah? No! No…do you want to see it?"

Kal smiled wide. "I would be most pleased."

Ernie dropped his pants, and Kal said, "It is very pretty, Ernest. Very big, very pretty. May I?" He leaned forward and touched the crown with a fingertip, carefully and gently, and Ernie shuddered. "May I touch more?" And he stroked, short feathery-soft strokes that made Ernie grit his teeth. A tiny, almost frustrated, groan leaked out from between his clenched teeth. 

"May I kiss you, Ernest?"

Ernie's nodded, and gasped "Okay"—but jerked his head back hard when Kal reached up and cradled his head, he moved towards Ernie—

"Hey! What the hell! I thought you meant kiss my—my—*dick*. He whispered the last part harshly, furtively. "Kiss…shit…I don’t know—I was just kind of thinking that—you know."

Kal's face fell. "Oh Ernest, really. Anyone could give you that. I'm sorry," he threw his arms around him, hugged him, "I thought that we were friends," and incidentally pressing his big hot chest against Ernie's quivering dick. 

Ernie stared, swallowed. "Oh shit. Okay." How could he disappoint Kal, poor little Oozbakastanian guy…he looked like a kicked beagle puppy…"One kiss. Only one, okay?"

 

An hour later, an hour filled with jaw straining kisses, amazing kisses, hot wet, tongue sucking kisses that made Ernie's lips feel hot and swollen, neck nibbling kisses that had led to burning nipple sucking kisses, and counting ribs with lips and tongues and fingers and fingers in places none had ever been before, places that made Ernie squeal and thank God, loudly, repeatedly….

_"I don’t know Kal, put your tongue wher—oh my goooooo…"_

_"Okay, relax my throat and breathe in? Like this, Kal…uhm…"_

_"I promise you Ernest—it will fit. You'll see. You will be amazed."_

Ernie *was* amazed….

~o0o~

Whit collapsed in a wet, loose-limbed heap against Lex, grinning madly. "Wow, Alex—that was wild!"

Lex grinned and kissed the back of Whit's neck. "*You've* learned some things since last I saw you."

"Yeah, maybe..." Whit leaned a little to the side to fish his pants and shorts out of the tangled pile on the couch bed, left his t-shirt pulled up behind his neck. 

"You want me to pull out?" Lex asked as he idly stroked Whit's thighs. 

"No." Whit sighed. "Yes. You should come home more often. I miss this." 

Lex laughed, "You don't miss me, you miss getting fucked. You need to find yourself a mister-ress."

"Shut up. Hey—speaking of that, you should have seen the help your uncle had for a while this summer. Oh my gawd—this was one fucking amazing kid—good looking, built like fuckme and what a dick…."

Lex paused in pulling his shirt over his head. "Yeah? What happened to him—did he get fired?"

"No, they said he had an emergency and had to return home. He was French…" Whit wrinkled his nose. "…no, Italian."

"Really? Italian? Hunh." Lex was intrigued. "Too bad."

"*Really* too bad—wait. I took a picture of him." 

Whit showed Lex his phone. "He was sleeping." and his voice sounded so fond that Lex quirked an eyebrow at him, snatched the phone. If the guy could make Whit sound like that…than he definitely wanted a look at this miracle…

"Taking pictures of someone without their knowledge--that's not stalkery in the least, Whit."

"Take a look at the picture and tell me you don’t want to stalk him yourself."

He gulped. Even on a small scale, the appeal radiated…long, beautifully muscled legs and thighs, and a thin trial of hair circling a perfect tiny mouth of a navel, marching down to thicken and frame the most perfect dick he'd ever seen—ever. Long and thick—not porn star big, just…perfect. Beautiful, just a little hard, foreskin retracted just enough to reveal a rosy flushed head, like the best striptease in the world…he looked up at Whit. "No face. You didn't take a picture of his face?"

"What, are you stupid? I took a pic of the important parts." 

"You really are a pig, aren't you?"

He shrugged. "I'm a jock," he said, like it explained everything.

Lex snorted. He looked harder, and smiled. "Nice ass too, from what I can see."

"I'd tell you about that," Whit zipped his jeans, "But you'd only hate me." He grinned at Lex's pained look.

"What makes you think I don't hate you now," Lex murmured.

Whit laughed, grabbed him and kissed his forehead wetly. "You know you love me," he said, and licked a long, sopping stripe over Lex's smooth head.

"Ew." He wiped his head with Whit's shirt, and skewered him with an icy stare. "You know, I've had men killed for less." He grinned when Whit's smile faltered just a little.

~o0o~

"Aunt Martha, Whit tells me you guys hired some student this summer?" Lex asked as he reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of orange juice. He turned a little so she couldn't see him and eased the bottle towards his mouth. 

"Yes, we did—and don’t even think about it," she said, and Lex lowered the bottle with a little grin. He grabbed a glass from the clean ones draining on the sideboard. 

"What happened to him—did you let him go?"

"Well…there was an incident with Kal and Whit, one that your uncle didn't describe in detail but…"

She fixed Lex with a sharp eye and he blushed deep red, but managed to meet her eyes and said, "Whit is a very giving person, Aunt Martha." 

"Yes. Goodness knows, I'll never forget how giving. Ever."

Lex manfully restrained the whine that wanted to flow out. No one told her to come sneaking into the family room at one o'clock in the morning, for God's sake. 

"Anyway, *that* wasn't the reason—that was just Whit being---Whit," she said diplomatically. "No, what was the important thing was—the young man floated. Floated! And he was incredibly strong. And he was definitely like *you*. When we found out, though, he ran. I guess he thought we'd be upset—afraid of him." 

Lex ran his hand over his bare scalp and sighed. "Well. That makes it even worse. I could have talked to him, let him know that it was okay—that it wasn't his fault. Poor guy. If he came from Italy, it's possible that he's never met another 'changed' person…outside of Smallville, the meteorites are very rare. In fact, I didn’t think the meteorites fell that far afield…I should look into that."

She nodded. "He was a nice boy, a very sweet boy. Poor thing. Look, I have a picture of him. I was going to give these to him as a souvenir of his time in America."

She passed a picture or two to Lex. "This is Kal, Alexander. He's very handsome." She smiled as she handed him the photographs. "Honey—are you all right? What's wrong?"

Lex went pale, his jaw dropped. "Oh. My. God. It's him."


	13. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, When The Worlds Collide

"Interface…something is wrong." Kal shivered as a faint ticklish feeling ran over him from head to toe. He waited patiently for the AI to finish the scan he knew it was conducting.

"I detect nothing out of the ordinary, Kal. I would however suggest you cut back on your intake of coffee—or switch to decaffeinated coffee. You may be suffering from a slight case of indigestion--"

"No, no, no, I didn’t mean a physical kind of wrong. I mean…oh dear. I really can’t believe I'm about to say this." Kal scrubbed his hand across the back of his neck, blew out a little breath, and tried to explain what it was he was feeling. "Just a few wonderful months ago, I felt like I was on top of the world—all the lovely sex I could wish for…it was like a dream. Everything that I've experienced…" Kal's voice went soft, distant…"Feathers, Innty. Little soft blue feathers and beautiful gold eyes…and warm fur that smelled like cinnamon, and whiskers, and funny little suckers…and for five minutes in the cruiser's lower level bathroom, a prehensile tail…" He sighed deeply, almost happily, caught up in reminiscing. "That tail was awfully nice…anyway, I find myself thinking differently now. It was lovely having the sex so freely. It was lovely being able to being joy to others. But always, always there was a part that wished for more. Now, I feel more than the wish for it..."

Kal wandered over to the bright little kitchen and poured a handful of coffee beans into a little saucer. He jumped up on the counter, and swinging his legs, munched on the beans.

*I realize that my life as a Kryptonian is over. I know it, and you should cease pretending otherwise. You can’t hurt my feelings; you can’t make me feel any more despair than I have already felt. It's time to be human. Earth human, I mean.* 

*I…have no feeling one way or another, Kal. I have no emotions to--*

"As my very dear friend Ernest says, bullshit. You do. You've been telling me you have since the disaster. You call me Kal. Not Kal, son of the house of El. Just Kal. Admit it, you like me, don’t you? Do you want to tell me how it's possible?"

The interface was silent, and Kal wondered if it would answer him. And then it said, *It's always been this way. We are one, until implanted, and then, we become…different. Separate. This is our secret, Kal-El. To know this secret, to let others discover it, is equivalent to death.*

Kal felt a wash of ice sweep over him…he knew the AI meant brain death for itself…and maybe for him. But not here. Nothing could happen to them here on Earth. "Do you—did you communicate with other interfaces? Did you gossip, fall in love, get angry with the others? What's was it like?" 

*It was…family? And no one else knew this but the family. And now, you. And without them, I feel alone. Like you do.*

Kal crossed to the tiny living room and sat in one of the tall deep windows, letting the afternoon sun warm him; make his skin feel like it was full of tiny feathers. He crunched another handful of beans and said, "I don't feel completely alone. I feel as though my grandfather is with me always. Well, a cross between Grandfather and sadly, a horribly prudish maiden aunt…I like that you are here, I trust you. You keep me from getting into trouble." Kal laughed. "I worry always about breaking you with my behavior." The soft burst of static warmed Kal's heart. "I can’t imagine life without you."

There was a moment of silence and the AI replied. *Thank you, Kal. Beyond the obvious, I also could not imagine life without you. You are…entertaining. Puzzling. Fascinating.*

Kal laughed again. *Ah, Innty. I *know* you love me.* 

Kal checked the time, and gasped. "I'm going to be late for work unless I hurry!" He gulped down his last handful of delicious beans, laid out his uniform, and prepared to shower. He ran the water fast and hot, and scrubbed himself with his favorite scent, vanilla and honey. He sniffed appreciatively at his skin every so often, and thought of honey covered Warrior Angel, an even better thought came to mind--*his* angel, covered in honey…so handsome, so creamy smooth and perfect—the scar on his lip only made him even more perfect, one could clone him easily, one could re-sculpt the planes his face, recreate the piercing slate blue eyes…but that perfect accidental slash—no one could recreate the tiny twist of flesh, the varying thickness of the tissue, perfect rose and ivory of the skin…"ooohh…who are you, you perfect being…how can I find you again…"

Kal caressed himself the way he imagined his perfect Warrior Angel would. Aggressively, determined, confidant. He grabbed his penis in a soap slathered hand, and hissed at the jolt that shot up his spine. He sighed, imagining elegant clever fingers exploring the shaft, the head, unveiling the rosy crown, mapping every bit of him with tongue and fingers…in turn he imagined touching his angel back, imagined his fascinating, probably trimmed human penis, pretty penises—a lot like averidian phren, just—there—uncovered, unhidden, all of it just waiting to be played with, kissed, tasted. Beautiful, and—and…Kal leaned against the shower wall. He had enough time before needing to appear at the Coffee Drop to enjoy this fully. Should he ask for sound, or visuals? No, he decided. He shut his eyes and brought his angel to mind. "Ooohhh…"

 

"…God, ohhh, Kal, Kal—unh!" Lex's knees buckled, and he threw his hand out to stop himself toppling. The heel of his hand slid with a loud squeak over the marble, and he blew out the huge breath he'd been holding without knowing. "Shit, he muttered, "I think…I'm going a little crazy." 

In the last few days, he'd jerked off more than he had his entire freshman year at Excelsior, a year famous in his mind for total isolation and in fact, he was ruining the nice little buzz he had going on now with thoughts of that insane asylum disguised as a school. "Gah—shit!" He stomped out of the shower, unfairly deprived of a few stress free moments, and grabbed a towel. At least the towel was nicely warm.

Today, the search would begin, Lex promised himself, and vigorously rubbed himself dry. He'd seen his destiny, covered with soot and breathtakingly beautiful, on a street corner in Metropolis, and there was no way he wasn't going to pursue it. Luthors found what they wanted and rearranged heaven and hell to make it so. 

He was armed with a name and a picture--the face of an angel. One of Whit's portraits, as well--art was art, after all.

He walked into the dining room in search of breakfast, and Pamela was already there, naturally, dressed impeccably in her business best. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What in the world are you doing home already? Didn’t we have a talk about this not taking any time to yourself? Remember, 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'…about a thousand times typed on a ream of paper and signed with an axe?"

Lex flapped his hand at her. "I'm fine, I swear—those few days were fine, and I spent them mostly with Whitney."

"Aw, you must be tired. How is Whitney anyway?"

"The same. I pity that girl he's marrying. She better take up a hobby…several," he mused and poked at the plate of bagels. "What, no lox? Listen…if I wanted to find someone, do you know anyone who could help—discreetly?"

"No. Well, yes…why?" She nibbled at the bagel, and looked Lex up and down. She looked at him speculatively. "What happened? You look different. You look…excited."

He sat, smiled at her before snagging a bagel and said, "Aunt Martha and Uncle Jon hired very interesting help this summer. It seems the guy is like me, like the other Smallville mutants—only not homicidal, or frightening to look at, or from Smallville. He's. Well, I think he may be a hero, actually. Like Warrior Angel, or Devilicus before he lost his mind. And stop looking at me like that. I can assure you I haven't lost *mine*." He passed a picture to her, and waited expectantly.

"Lex, honey, it's good for you to have a hobby too, but looking for a stranger…hoo-leee shi--oh my God. You have my blessing." She handed the picture back, almost reluctantly.

Lex smiled knowingly, and went on to give her what information his aunt had been able to give him.

"Darling," Pamela sighed, "he certainly is something else. There *are* people I know who owe me a favor or two. They might be able to find someone who's not hiding. But you know as well as I do that most mutants who weren't…mentally compromised…tend to do an excellent job of hiding. He has very distinctive looks, yes, but that's not enough to find someone who doesn't want to be found. And his story about being an exchange student stinks on ice."

Lex stood. "Oh yeah. But Jon said he was a real good guy and that's all we need to know."

"All right baby." She stood too, and they moved aside as the staff cleaned breakfast away. "Well, you do need your rest, so I'm off to the office," she said, and walked out to the foyer to get her briefcase. "You are forbidden to show today," she called back over her shoulder. "Stay home and read, go shopping, go to a gallery—no work. Tomorrow's early enough for you to come in." She kissed his cheek when Lex came up behind her, and twirled her around to give her a quick hug. 

"All right. I promise. For today, I'll really relax."

"Um, hmm."

~o0o~

"Saunders, I'm in the mood for coffee, at my favorite shop…"

"Of course, sir. By the way, I'm allowed to take you anywhere but to LuthorCorp, sir. Miss Pamela's orders. "

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn’t I hire you? My mother doesn't sign your check, I do."

"Yes, sir, but Miss Pamela is a lot scarier than you."

Lex threw himself back against the seat and crossed his arms. He absolutely didn’t pout. Pouting was for little kids and princesses…"I could fire you."

"Oh, sir!" The driver chuckled fondly and Lex really wished he was capable of murder….

~o0o~

Kal ran in through the employee's entrance of the Coffee Drop and dashed to the back. "Hello, hello, Ernest! I'm so sorry I'm late." He stopped to clock in, and under Ernie's curious gaze, he blushed furiously. "I was doing, um, something…"

Ernie leaned against the freezer door and sighed. "Kal…don't tell me about it, okay?" He closed his eyes and Kal felt a twinge of unhappiness. He didn’t know what to do for Ernest, how to make it better. Ever since Ernest had explained to Kal that he would no longer be intimate with him, since he was completely not gay, or even bisexual, there'd been a slight strain on their working relationship. He felt Ernest's longing eyes on him frequently, and it hurt his heart not to be able to do anything for him. Poor creature. 

Ernie opened his eyes and sighed again. "Okay, tell me about it—were they really hot?"

"Ernest—" Kal suddenly understood why Ernest looked so downcast and laughed. "You misunderstand. I was not having sex with anyone!

Ernie looked relieved. "Oh, not that it matters. Heh. Okay. Whew."

"Goodness, no, I was *masturbating*." 

Kal put his apron on and Ernie turned bright red and gulped, sputtered. "Oo—oh? Well, that's—that's—healthy." Ernie tried to ease past Kal, but couldn’t resist leaning in as he passed and he sniffed hard at Kal.

Kal turned to him with a sad eyed look. "Ernest—it hurts me that you deprive yourself like this. It's all in fun and you enjoy it so  
much--"

"Kal! Kal—I can't. I don't trust myself. When I…think about touching you, I get all stupid and goofy and—I've got plans! Get married, and have kids and…and stuff. My girlfriend…" His voice trailed off as Kal stretched and his apron and jeans slipped a bit lower and a strip of golden skin dotted with an inward curve of a perfect navel was revealed. "Oh God help me." 

He was on his knees, oblivious to the puddle of water he knelt in, yanking at Kal's neatly pressed khakis, almost gnawing the button open, sucking on a caramel tinted, perfect hipbone and licking along the sharp cut of muscle until his nose was pressed against thick soft curls.

"Ernest, should I stop you? I'm more than happy not to, but you did say the last time, no sex ever again--"

"Oh shut the fuck up, will you? Let me go to hell in my own hand casket!" Ernie slurped Kal's still soft penis into his mouth, and washed his tongue over the stiffening shaft, sucking and licking until Kal was hard and throbbing and wiggling against the counter. He spread his legs, and Ernie pressed in closer, opened his mouth wider, and practically inhaled him.

Ernie slid the khakis down until Kal was totally exposed and delightfully free. He slid a few fingers back between Kal's cheeks until he was pressing at the hot, tight little circle hiding there. Kal hissed and pumped on Ernie's finger until it slid in, in and in and pushed through the ring high inside him—sparks exploded and whirled behind his closed eyes. "Yow! Mother of All Gods!"

His knees shook, and he felt a warm trickle of thick fluid run down his leg…Ernie made a confused noise, and seemed about to pull away, but Kal, through an act of willpower worthy of an acolyte of Rao, restrained himself from clamping super strong sphincter muscles down on Ernest's delicate human finger—and begged him desperately not to stop. 

Ernie shrugged, and pulled Kal forward with his free hand. Kal needed no further encouragement—he knew Ernest liked an active give and take during a blowing job. His hands went up to cradle Ernest's head, gently as if he was handling a raw egg, and after having accidentally popped, oh…many, too many to count, he was expert at this. In fact, the delicious tension, the knowledge that one false move, a sneeze, a cough, could lead to him scrambling Ernest's skull like a hen's ovum, made it all so very intense. Minutes passed, and he was driving himself hard against the fingers twisting and sliding about in his hot, slick anus. Ernest was moaning, swallowing, and Kal risked a look—Ernie's eyes were closed, his lips were clamped around the thick shaft, darker rose against the flushed column, his mouth and chin glistened with saliva, and it was such a pretty sight, it sent him sailing over the edge into ecstasy. The orgasm Ernest made roared through him, hot as the Fire Falls, hotter than the sun…he groaned and felt Ernie's fingers twitch inside him, his throat close and open around him as he swallowed. "Ernest, Ernest…"

Brent walked in as Ernie was wiping his mouth, and grimacing at the large wet spot soaking his pants. Kal was still leaning on the counter, his pants still halfway down his legs, his mouth still curved in a lazy smile….

"Ew, get your ass off of that counter—we make sandwiches there." He stepped over Ernie's legs and grabbed the cleaning wipes, and wiped while Kal tried to move. "And what did I tell you about sex in the shop, hmmm? Call me if you’re having it—isn’t that right?"

Kal blushed hard. "Oh I'm really sorry Brent! We were discussing Ernest's vow not to have sex, but we…we broke it. Rather suddenly."

Ernie sighed deeply, a great big gust of sorrow laden air. He wound his apron around his waist, viciously knotted the strings. "I'm a slut. A great big, no control having, come covered slut," he said sadly.

Brent grabbed Ernie by the chin and pointed him towards Kal. "Look at that. Look at him—who the hell wouldn’t want to fuck him? Who wouldn't *beg* him to fuck them? Husband and wives would arm wrestle each other for a chance to suck his dick, nuns would strip naked and cover themselves in honey if they thought it would help—why, the very *gods* would fling themselves at him in a shower of gold, appear before him in the shape of fucking swans and beg to be fucked in the feathered ass--how can you, a mere mortal, be expected to resist?" 

Kal stood where Ernie left him; still half undressed, shrugged and smiled helpfully. 

Ernie closed his eyes. "Oh geeeeeeez. Help me. Really, help me."

Brent sighed. "I'll try, Ernie. I'll do my best."

~o0o~

The limo stopped and Lex jumped out, checking his watch and wondering what he was going to say to Pamela to make her let him stay in the office…he pushed open the door to the Coffee Drop, and thought, today, he was going to make Ernie fish all the change from under the pastry case..

~o0o~

Kal came out to the front and smiled sheepishly when Anna glared at him. "What took you so long? I've been out here by myself for the last fifteen minutes—look at this line," she hissed.

"Anna, you're right to be angry, I really have to apologize—it's most unfair to you and our customers." Kal vowed not to put his pleasure before those of The Customers again.

~o0o~

Lex took a moment to savor the scent of fresh brewing coffee, his eyes on the board above the counter. He scanned the list thoughtfully…which brew to start what was sure to be a frustrating day of enforced idleness…?

~o0o~

"Can I help you, my friend—Rao's pendulous orbs!"

*What is it Kal-El? What is wrong?*

"Holy shit—you!"

"….Fuck…"

"…me…"


	14. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, Into The Woods

Brent looked around the swinging door, looked out to the floor. Lex Luthor was out there, Mr. L, the man everyone pretended not to recognize. Respectful. Giving him his privacy. Though right now, he was telegraphing at the top of his lungs, in a manner of speaking, that he had just been struck between the eyes by Kal. Brent grinned. Of course he'd been, no one got out of the Coffee Drop without falling under that spell. He turned to look at Kal who always greeted those awestruck looks with a shy, graceful smile. 

'Oh my god…' Brent felt his heart melt and freeze at once. Kal, Kal….Brent sighed and turned to see Ernie standing behind him, looking out towards the tables... 'Oh, oh my.'

Ernie looked devastated. His eyes were shining, a tremor shook his lower lip and Brent marveled that the instant attraction—'what a weak word'—between Mr. L and Kal was so intense that even a relative thicko like Ernie could pick up on it. Ernie. Poor little slob.

Ernie became aware that Brent was looking at him. He shook himself and smiled. "Well, good. I don't have to worry about that anymore. What a relief. Best thing that could have happened to me."

Brent nodded and ignored the little quiver in Ernie's voice. "Come in the back with me, I need you to hold my hand for a little bit, okay?" Brent turned Ernie away from an oblivious Kal, patting his shoulder. "It doesn't make you less a man to cry, you know." He said quietly.

"I don't want to cry," Ernie protested and wiped at his eyes. He sniffed deeply and sighed. "How about you? You okay?"

"Well, honey, I figured it would happen one day. A guy like Kal—he needs someone legendary, not ordinary shmoes like us."

~o0o~

There, behind the counter--Lex swallowed hard. It was him, the Adonis on the street corner, Uncle Jon's porn star handyman, Whit's—Whit's—he was going to fucking kill Whit, bring him back, torture him and then kill him some more and maybe castrate him….

"I—" shit. His throat was so dry he couldn't speak. He raised a shaking finger and pointed at the board. "I."

Kal's forehead wrinkled, and that made his nose wrinkle, and his eyes—they were the clear, shifting green of the ocean, flecked with jade, the pupils were circled with gold, and—and a thin ring of red…Lex shook his head. He'd never hallucinated in the middle of the afternoon while stone cold sober before….

The man behind the counter just stared and stared. His lips thinned as he stared, his eyebrows drew down, the corners of his full red mouth turned down—he looked like a thunderstorm about to happen. The other patrons glanced from Kal to Lex, and did a double take—turned back to Kal. Whispers filled the air—what was between Kal and Mr. L? Whatever it was, why was this first they were hearing of it? An involuntary game of Telephone ensued.

"Lex Luthor and Kal, does that look like love to you?" a patron whispered in awe…it whipped around the café, until in the far corner, an elderly gentleman snapped in confusion, "leave cauliflower on the bar in a glove—what?" 

 

Oblivious to the frantic whispers behind him, Lex tried to force his eyes from Kal. He licked his suddenly dry lips, and tried again. "I'd like a cup of coffee please." Lex was reasonably sure that he spoke lucidly, but from the increasingly…angry look on Kal's face, it was possible he'd said, "I'd like to ravish you on the counter." But he was reasonably sure he hadn't.

Kal turned and pointed at the board. "Which variety would you care for? We have many wonderful varieties—*why* do you *smell* like that?" he snapped, and Lex jumped. Also everyone behind him in line, and his co-workers behind the counter and when Kal moved closer, planted huge corded hands on the granite counter and the stone actually…squeaked, most found they were terribly late for various appointments--boy howdy is that the time? My, it does fly--and made themselves scarce.

"Smell? I beg your pardon." Lex tried an unobtrusive sniff at his wrist, and detected nothing. He'd showered that morning of course, and applied deodorant and powder and expensively scentless lotion because hairless mutant skin was at the mercy of fabric. 

"You smell like…like…" Kal's eyes suddenly widened, and he looked a little out of focus, slightly in pain. He winced, just a bit, and refocused on Lex. "I'm supposed to—I mean, I apologize. You have no smell."

Lex looked at the boy's sullen face, and thought, finding him was supposed to go a lot better than this. Lex cleared his throat and said, "Let me try again. I've seen you before. You saved a little girl.

Kal blushed, from hairline to neck he was furiously red. He glanced around furtively. "You saw me fly?" he hissed, and jumped. "Ow. I'm not being stupid."

The hell? Fly? Oh lord, he found his godling, and he was bugfuck crazy…or a *very* unique mutation. "Can we talk? Outside?"

Kal glanced at a plump young woman standing next to the register. Her expression said, 'I suck lemons. I've just sucked one, and I'm about to suck a lemon again. Hard.'

So young to be so bitter, Lex thought, nice breasts. Kal did an excellent imitation of an anime puppy and the young woman slammed the cash drawer shut, and glared at Kal. 

"Oh my god, can you keep it in your pants long enough to finish off your shift?"

Kal stopped, opened his mouth, shut it. He looked puzzled. He glanced down at himself, and checked his zipper and Lex laughed. 

Great. He was in love with a flying mutant Whitney.

Kal looked at him in awe, his cheeks pink, his mouth rosy and slightly curved in a wondering smile, his eyes shining…"You laughed. It's a wonderful laugh. Please, laugh again for me?"

Laugh? Lex had to fight not to cry.

~o0o~

Kal watched the man come in, ands his heart nearly exploded—it was the man in the conveyance—the car—limo. The beautiful, merman sleek, exotically beautiful man. 

The man came closer and—and he smelled. Kal recognized the smell surrounding the Angel. Even the wonderful and intricately layered scents of the coffee could not cover the smells, of home and comfort…the farm, the Kents…and the other was…Whitney? "… Why do you smell like that?" How? 

A sharp pain skewered his chest. For the first time in his life, he understood, completely and totally, why Fwees's wife would not have been honored that her husband had been bedded by a Kyrptonian, why Ernest agonized over his girlfriend, why not everyone danced the dance with such abandon. He thought he'd loved Rwrzft —he did—but now he knew, love was more, much more. More than wanting to keep Fwee, more than liking the thought of traveling with Caar. 

He wanted no one ever, ever again touching his human. Ever.

*Kal! Rao's sake—have you forgotten everything you've learned? Remember, do not invite inconvenient interest—strive at all times to pass for human. Do as they do, think as they do--though Rao knows it's way too late in some instances*

*Yes, yes, yes, I hear you, I understand--* Kal listened to Innty's diatribe and ignored the brief and distinctly panic flavored burst of static. He kept his attention locked on the Angel and when he'd calmed a bit, heard, "I've seen you before. You saved a little girl." He was shocked enough to ask if he'd seen him fly—and the AI almost fried his brain.

*KAL-EL! Did I not tell you—hide yourself! You're being—being—purposely obtuse! You can not be this stupid!*

Kal-El was stung—along with the pain between his eyes, there was the hurt of the words Innty directed at him. How could it be so cruel? "I am *not* stupid!" He struck the countertop for emphasis and thin cracks spidered out from under his fist.

*Oh Kal, I know, please forgive me. I just---I just—*

Kal wasn't listening. The man was talking to him and Anna said something odd about his pants and he looked and the man *laughed* and…and…it sounded like the Crystal Lake in early Spring, it sounded like music, it made his chest swell and heat, and he found himself smiling…before he could think, words escaped him. "You laughed. It's a wonderful laugh, so full of music. Please, laugh again for me?"

The angel looked strange, pink, and unhappy, but he smiled and said, "I can't laugh now."

Kal-El untied his apron, it fell to the ground unnoticed and he stepped on it on his way around the counter. "Come with me, I'll make you laugh again I promise."

*of that I have no doubt…*

Kal took the man's hand. "I offer you formal greetings…my name is Kal—um—King. Kal King."

"Ah. I'm, ah, Lex Luthor. And I find it hard to believe that you're Cal King," Lex whispered. "Cal King is Warrior Angel. Whoever you really are, you're more than an angel."

Kal blushed a brilliant red. "You know the character; I saw pictures in the loft."

"My loft—you worked for my Uncle and Aunt this summer—before you ran away…"

"The Kents! The Martha and Jon-than Kent are your family? Those were your pictures on the wall—oh, you are so much more beautiful than Warrior Angel could ever be. I loved staying in your loft, though the sleeping apparatus left something to be desired—was that bar under the mattress *supposed* to cause back pain…?"

Lex's head jerked back. "You slept in my bed?" 'Oh my god, he slept in my bed with—with Whit!' Lex winced. Must…not…get…hard….

"If we could, I would like to go to your apart-ment. May we? I would love to have the sex with you—I know that it would be memorable."

Lex choked, and groaned and pled harder with his body—don’t blush for god's sake and *don't get hard—harder—no, wait a minute…* " I—I—my limo is at the curb--" I don’t remember how to walk….'

Kal looked around the Coffee Drop. He felt in his heart, he wouldn't return there again. Tears filled his eyes as he wished his co-workers farewell. "I am about to begin a new adventure, my friends. I've learned so much from you, and enjoyed you all so very deeply. Some day, I hope to return from—from—"

*Italy!*

"Italy. Until that time, live long and be well." A collective sigh filled the air, tiny sniffles could be heard.

Lex, on the other hand was stunned nearly speechless "Wait a minute—I thought we--we were just going to—to thing—sex, maybe a little caviar or—"

"Lex! You are too amusing. We will stop at my apart-ment and collect my possessions. And explain to my landwoman that I no longer require the living space."

He turned to his stunned ex-co-workers, and graced them all with a Kal smile. He went to each one, and wished them all the best life could offer, and in the mean time, Lex tried to make his brain process what was happening at the speed of light. He felt just a little as if he'd driven off a bridge, been slammed in the head, with possibly a little electroshock therapy thrown in as spice….

Anna hugged Kal tightly and sobbed, "You couldn't wait for the second shift to come in, you asshole? I'll miss you, Kal King; I'll miss proving you're gay on alternating Thursdays…."

Brent kissed Kal, long enough to make him wonder if Brent was entirely human. When Brent stepped back, he said, "Have a good life, Kal. Think of us. I'll be thinking of you…every box of Kleenex I go through, I'll think about you."

Kal turned to embrace Ernie, but he held out his hand to Kal, keeping a distance between them.

"Ernest, I think I'm going to miss you most of all," Kal sniffed, as he rubbed his eyes against the back of his wrist.

"Kal, I…well, thanks for everything. If Mr. L doesn’t treat you right, you come back here and I'll kick his ass but good." Kal smiled and nodded, and Ernie came a little closer. "Kal…are you sure about leaving?"Cause I just wanna say—if you tell me to leave her, I will. Tell me not to get married and I won't--"

Lex leaned over Kal's shoulder. "That sounds like something you really need to address before the matrimonial event. And by the way, are you seriously trying to say you're straight?" He snorted gently. "Maybe I should give your fiancée the number of my friend's girlfriend. At least then, your respective SO's would have something to do…" He grabbed Kal's arm. "Come on, I have so many questions, so much I want to know about you!"

Kal looked just a tad annoyed. "Hmm. As do I."

They headed out to the car, working their way through the renewed afternoon crowd. Customer after customer embraced Kal, some openly crying, and when they finally made it to the curb, Kal's hands and pockets were stuffed with little pieces of paper.

Lex stared at Clark and asked, "Is there anyone here you *haven't* slept with?"

Kal stopped, thought…"Mmm…no?"


	15. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, Our Hero Goes Forth

They sat across from each other in the limo, each studying the other, each in his own silent world of appraisal, wonder….

Lex was bathed in Kal's extremely focused gaze, emerald eyes wandering from face to torso to crotch and back. Lex began to fidget—froze. He was not by any means a man given to fidgeting. Fidgeting is what others did in his presence.

Kal. Kal made him fidget…"Nice weather."

"Oh yes, very. Nice."

"Could rain."

"There is that possibility."

Kal continued to stare. Lex smoothed his tie, rubbed the little scar on his lip. "…so…Italy."

Kal brightened. "Oh yes." He nodded emphatically. "Italy."

Lex relaxed. He was once again on familiar ground. If there was anything he knew how to deal with, it was a liar. "Italy. So…how's the weather back home?"

Kal looked momentarily stunned—his eyes unfocused briefly, and then he said, "Ah. Yes, home—at the moment, the temperature is sixty-six degrees Fahrenheit, with seventy-three per cent humidity. The rainfall average for this month is three point one, there's a slight wind…um…" Kal smiled helplessly. "The chief exports are precision machinery, motor vehicles…and ah…electric goods…" Kal trailed off uncertainly and blinked rapidly. He blushed faintly, and his smile grew wider.

Dismissing the possibility that Kal's insanity could lead to violence, Lex smiled back. God, the boy was a pathetically lousy liar…still, he had hidden depths, had to have--Lex was beginning to see that this coincidence of running into Kal King at the Coffee Drop probably wasn't. It was all in all a too remarkably convenient set of circumstances. Kal, foreign exchange student from some unspecified place in 'Italy', just happened to meet Uncle Jon and Aunt Martha, just happened to be on that street corner, just happened to work at his favorite café? 

Lex continued to smile at Kal. Mutant? Maybe. Gold-digger? Oh, most definitely.   
So. When life handed you a gigantic smoking hot devious lemon, the thing to do was make lemonade, and make it over and over until it's eyeballs melted…yes, he would make the best of a crappy situation.

'Kal King my ass.'

~o0o~

Lex invited Kal in to the apartment, let him explore the rooms. Watched as Kal touched different items, handled them with so much interest, with wonder. It almost hurt to think that this person was acting, pretending to be the naïve young man staring at the tank separating the living spaces, staring in seeming awe at the fish darting back and forth as though he'd never seen a thing like it before. Brilliant bastard, he thought. I'd fall for it completely if I was the love-struck idiot this SOB thinks I am. Lex tried, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Kal or whatever his real name was—his phone rang, and it was his mother. 

"Lex, honey, I—where are you right now?" she asked suspiciously. 

"Don't worry. I'm safely at home. And thank you for suborning my staff to revolt. My driver refused to take me to the Towers and the staff here are eyeballing me like rabid wolves every time I even look at the doors. I doubt I've ever been so relaxed against my will."

Pamela laughed, a deep warm chuckle that as much as it annoyed him, also made him smile.

"Well, dear, about that mysterious stranger—I asked my good friend to look into it and well…it wasn't so much searching for info as being nearly buried under mountains of it. It's all there--Kal Lorvan King, from birth to immigration…I don't think I've ever seen anyone so well documented and so…boring…before."

Lex watched sweet Kal talking to the fishes, trailing a long strong finger along the glass, trying to entice the fish to follow…"Is the information faked?"

"If it is, it's the best we've ever seen. Ignoring the non-Italian surname, it's all perfect. My gut feeling? Maybe."

"Mom, that doesn't give me much to go on."

"I know, honey, and I'm sorry. Handle it the way you feel best. I trust you."

Kal left off bothering the fish and turned to him, and the smile he gave him made his brains melt, and he stammered a response, some response, he really had no idea what came out of his mouth. Pamela laughed. 

"He's there now isn't he? I'll call you back later."

Lex said goodbye to a dial-tone.

"Lex Luthor, this is so amazing! I had no idea that the fishes could be so fascinating, so quick and agile. Are they for food or for decorative purposes—or both?"

"What?"

"Um. Never mind. Can I see your room of sleeping? Bedroom?"

"….yes? I mean, now?" Lex coughed and felt his cheeks warm. "I—certainly." Because only an insane person would say no.

~o0o~

Kal followed Lex to a room that was magnificent, bright with sunlight, and huge, much, much bigger than his room at home, and the bed…Kal sighed. The bed was enormous, and heaped with linens that he knew would feel wonderfully sinful against his skin. In a bed like that, he could stretch out arms and legs and wiggle back and forth and not touch the sides or have bits of him hang off the edge—wonderful! He and Lex could lie together and not touch—though, he chuckled, that'd be completely pointless.

*Kal…have you thought this through? Consider the ramifications, the problems of living daily with a human. Particularly one so keen.*

*But Innty—it's him! It's Warrior Angel, in the flesh. He's so…so magnificent. So sleek, and tall, and confident. And he smells so good. He smells…like home. He smells like the Mom's gardens, like a flower of the Scarlet Jungle, like honey and milk and oh, he smells even better than the coffee…* 

*Kal, this human is not like the others. I suspect that he's been infected with the odd properties the Kryptonian fragments have somehow developed. Perhaps that is why you are so strongly drawn to him…yes, hard as it may be to believe, I sense a difference in your desire towards this being.*

*You're beginning to make me feel like a being of loose morals.*

There was a long moment of silence, and an equally long moment of soft static buzzing. Kal snickered too. *I thought that would make you laugh* he snorted.

His brief burst of shared amusement died as he became aware of Lex's intensely interested gaze. He seemed torn—his expression reminded Kal quite a bit of Jor-El's when presented with a mystery—the urge to discover was written all over his face and not the good erotic sort of discovery. It was a good bit closer to the kind of discovery one employed on small expired amphibians.

It could be, that the AI had a point about clever humans. Perhaps now was the time to distract Lex. Kal began to unbutton his shirt, and Lex's gaze became a gape. 

"What are you doing?"

"I'm taking my clothes off, hoping that you'll follow suit and we can have the amazing sex. Unless…you'd rather do something else?"

He was fairly certain that Lex Luthor felt it was a good idea. Kal carefully employed his Vision, the non-heat bearing kind. He saw that Lex was rather interested, that he was uncircumcised, completely hairless—and that brought a tiny sting of disappointment. No fur. Hair, goodness, not fur. Earthers—humans—had hair. Well, he'd over look that—he liked body adornment, but he was sure he could look past it. Well past it. Lex Luthor had the most amazingly beautiful phren. Penis. Ah! What was happening to him? Why were his thoughts so disordered? He took a deep breath to steady the wild beating of his heart, and the scent of Lex flooded all of his senses….he felt weak and unsteady, and to his horror, his eyes filled with tears. "Home…" he sighed, and dropped down on the edge of the bed.

Rao's teeth, he was disgusting! What was wrong with him? Why had he suddenly become a huge wet puddle of self pity and homesickness and look, Lex Luthor was repulsed by him and why couldn't he just be dead right now? 

*Steady, Kal-El. Steady. I'm monitoring you now. Perhaps it's a touch of some virus or it may be simply a need for sustenance…*

*No, I think it's heartbreak. It's homesickness*

~o0o~

Lex was appalled. What in the hell just happened? One moment, he was about to be seduced by the most insanely good looking man he'd ever had in his bedroom—in fact, the only person who'd been in his bedroom that wasn't being paid to clean it or have sex with him in it—and in the next he was with a big, teary eyed…*kid*! Hardly the incredibly talented seducer, the gold digger that he was certain had plans to sink his claws into him and suck him dry—so to speak. This was just a sad kid trying to—to what? 

…confuse him.

Ah. Very good. Go with the sympathy, the pity fuck—get the hook in. Very well done. It looked very, very real. He peered closer. They looked like real tears.

"Kal," he sat next to him, and laid a hand on his shoulder, a hand that migrated against his will to Kal's belly, right above the waist of his pants. "What's wrong? Are you…missing Italy? All your dear friends and family?" His sarcasm went unnoticed, Kal gulped and sniffed and rubbed at his damp cheeks. 

"Yes…I wish I could go home—but—I don't want to leave here either…" Kal looked upset, genuinely upset and torn. 

Lex felt a surprising jolt of pure anger, and that was counterproductive. One had to be totally in control emotionally with this species of parasites—he'd certainly spent enough time with Kal's sort back in his late teens, until Pamela had finally kicked his ass back in gear. He'd learned how to handle the type, at least. No matter if it was some conniving harpy on the dance floor, or an elaborate operation the caliber of the one Kal King had set up, he'd learned how to deal with them, oh yes he had...Lex felt a little moment of doubt. Was it possible that Kal could play the id—innocent *that* well? And should he sleep with him sleep with him anyway, knowing what he was? Lex growled silently. Of course, he should—he'd just be doing to this guy what he was planning to do to him. And he planned to do it a lot better than Whit had. Than anyone. Ever. The whole city of Metropolis, if it came to that.

Why was he jealous? He wasn't jealous. He was not jealous… "Leave here, Kal?" Lex asked, and wrestled himself for control. 

"I feel as though I've finally found what I've been looking for, for so long—I *know* I've found it." He leaned closer, and Lex felt a shiver run up his spine and incredibly soft lips barely touched his neck. A tiny puff of air warmed the skin those lips grazed. Lex felt a little glow deep inside. 

"Lex. This—is—I felt comfortable in the home of your Aunt, but here, I feel almost as if I am home. I think that is what brings the sadness…home. Hoping I have found one again."

Lex hated the glow of warmth that lit his belly, his face…the absurd feeling of happiness Kal's words brought him. The touch of those long strong fingers on his skin made him sigh just a little before reigning in his libido. _'Remember, all he wants is your—oh my god…softest, softest lips in the world,'_ Lex closed his eyes and tried to memorize the feel of so hot, so soft lips skimming his cheek. 

'This is purely ridiculous,' he scolded himself. He was acting like—like--a thirteen year old, he thought sadly, the age he was the first time he'd felt something like this…and the last time. He hadn’t thought of it in years and now, it was—a horrible, horrible thought. 

Kal was pulling away, and Lex fought not to drag him back. He felt a whisper of pride that he held back from grabbing Kal by his hair and jamming his mouth back against his really very sensitive neck. Oddly enough, until this moment, he'd never known that his neck had a direct connection to his dick…

"Lex, are you all right? You make sounds that are not of pleasure." Kal looked confused as Lex felt. Not pleasure? 

"If I'm hurting you please tell me--"

Lex was instantly deeply ashamed. He hadn't known that he telegraphed his loneliness so loudly. "Kal, I'm sorry." Lex was horrified, listening to himself blabber the truth spilled out. "It's been so long since I've been touched this way." 

Instantly Kal's face cleared up, and Lex blinked. The sun shone again. "Oh, Lex, I understand. It's not the same, sex and love, is it? I'm so happy for the both of us—we'll never have to suffer that again. I love you, and you love me."

Lex was shocked into complete and utter silence, and then—giggled. Insanity was catching—or maybe this was Kal's mutant gift. Conferring a…a refreshing kind of looniness on his victims. 

Love.

Love? 

Well. Kal King was certainly not from Italy, that was plain. No, no—he was from Mars. And crazy. But gently crazy. Nice crazy…was it wrong that he still wanted desperately to sleep with him, sleep being a euphemism for really obnoxiously loud sweaty sex and and.

Oh shit. 

Kal was in love with him—no worse—he was in love with Kal. How was it even possible? And was there any chance Pamela would just applaud his good taste?

This was going to be one interesting conversation when she came in for breakfast in the morning. 

Kal smiled at him, lifted his hand, and pressed a lingering kiss into the center of his palm and Lex poured over the bed, dripped to the floor and mingled with the threads of the carpet. 'All right,' he told The Great Unknown, 'I get it. He's not a gold-digger. And thanks—I'll consider this to be a fair trade for all my body hair.'

It would have just made him look like a certain fast food chain's trademark, anyway.


	16. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, Our Hero Faces Adversity

Lex pressed Kal down on the bed, coaxed him to his knees. He drank in Kal's tiny intake of breath, ran a hand down the tight muscles of his back and felt the boy's shudder in his own body. He grabbed a small bottle of unscented lube from the night table drawer, and slicked himself quickly. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so feverishly hard. He slid an outrageously expensive custom made micro thin lavender tinted condom down over his dick. Lex believed sincerely in the adage "be good to yourself." 

The touch of his own hand made him groan--his dick bobbed and slapped his palm. Kal was trembling, silent, but Lex heard the catch in Kal's breath each time he inhaled. He looked down on his Adonis—so beautiful, auburn down feathering the curve of his cheeks, framing the dark pink ring beckoning to him, begging to be violated…Lex pushed against him, rubbed the head of his dick across it until it gave and Kal let out a long low moan that made Lex's blood boil.

"Oh, yessssss--" he hissed, and was in balls deep almost before he was aware of it—the lube seemed especially slick and warm—Kal was like an oven inside, and gripped him like a glove. Kal was telling him how good he felt, how wonderful he… smelled? Lex smiled. He rather liked that—he spent a lot of money to smell this good, nice that someone appreciated it…Kal hissed and reared back, and just like that all coherent thought was gone, sunk under a wave of heat, sound, smell--Kal had him teetering on edge in seconds. His control was blown and it was a sensation he hadn’t felt since he was that confused teen—when nearly all it took was the promise of sex and a puff of hot air wafting over his dick to make him explode and now, Kal was making it happen again—Lex squeezed his eyes shut and desperately tried to block out the sight of Kal impaled on his dick, twisting and groaning and drenched in sweat and leaking all over the bed in a way that was amazingly erotic…possibly because it was Kal.

Definitely because it was Kal. 

Lex drew his hands over the firm swell of the golden hued cheeks, feeling the downy soft hair bend and curl under his fingers, felt Kal clench around him, and then with a shuddering sigh, Kal moved in a way that made Lex feel like he was being held even tighter, Lex had to touch their connection, it was hotter, wetter—his hips took the initiative when his brain was slow to respond, and thrust once or twice until all of Lex realized he could and should move. For a few wild minutes, he hammered in and out of Kal, came with a loud cry and fell to the side, struggling to still his heaving chest.

Loud panting filled the silent room. *His* loud panting. Just his, in the otherwise very silent room. Lex cracked an eye open. It was awfully quiet. He'd never known silence to be so oppressively loud. Lex risked a look at his thunderously silent partner. 

Kal was staring at him wordlessly and Lex had the sinking feeling it was *not* in exhausted appreciation. Lex was hugely aware that what had occurred might not have been his best performance. He knew that the curtain had come down rather…suddenly. "Kal…?"

Kal blinked, a long, deliberate blink and said slowly, in an amazed voice, "My Lex, that was…*awful.*" 

Lex blinked himself; his mouth opened also…a sound that meant to be protest squeaked out. Certainly it had been speedy…but *awful*?

"Rao's all Seeing Eye—that was *horrible!!*" Kal was sitting completely upright now, and Lex felt like an idiot—naked, condom still gaily decorating him and—and Kal's look of awe-struck horror was making it's way through his brain and lodging with huge sharp rending claws in his chest. "Is it like that all the time for you, my poor Lex? Because if so—" 

Lex jumped off the bed, and stalked to the bathroom, as quickly as he could without appearing to be running. He threw the door shut behind him and disposed of the condom and struggled manfully not to destroy the bathroom because Kal would know how hurt he was and besides, he was too old for temper tantrums and no way was he ever, ever going to be able to explain to Pamela *why* he needed to rebuild his bathroom…

"Lex, please. I didn’t mean that in quite the way it sounded…please let me in?"

"No! Go away."

"Lex, please, I'm sorry, so sorry…I am an ignorant and unkind being and I'm begging you, on my knees, please come out…"

He cracked the door and looked out, and Kal was literally on his knees, and he looked not the slightest bit like he was teasing. His face was red, and his eyes were bright and wet. "I've been told—I mean—I'm an idiot. I was just…please, *please* come back to bed?"

Lex hesitated, and then with a feeling like someone was prodding him gently between the eyes, he walked slowly forward. "Well," he said, "I guess. I suppose. For a minute," because he fully intended to throw this rude and horrible, terribly, unfairly good-looking naked idiot out on his ear…. 

Kal shuffled forward on his knees and took Lex's hand and pressed a lingering soft kiss again in the center and Lex sighed. God, he was easy. 

"It was my fault, Lex, I had unfair expectations…" He sucked the tips of Lex's fingers in his mouth when, with an angry snort, Lex tried to pull away again. If Kal meant to distract Lex that way, Lex had to admit, it worked…really…really…really well....

"If you'll allow me." Kal led Lex back to the barely rumpled bed. "I want to show you something, if I may. Please, lie down here." Lex did what Kal asked, feeling a little chilled. He tried to rub his arms, but Kal pushed them out to his sides. He leaned over Lex and sniffed. He ran his nose up the side of Lex's neck, snuffling hard, and Lex tried not to giggle. He pushed his nose into Lex's ear, and huffed, and Lex laughed out loud, tried to push him away. Kal soothed him, nudging and tugging him until he was spread-eagled against the linen again and--warm. Kal went back to his ear, and this time, he used his tongue and this time Lex didn’t giggle or try to roll away…he moaned quietly as Kal delicately traced the shell of his ear, gently mouthed the rim, the lobe…Kal's mouth moved back down his neck, and the trail of warmth filled him, spread slowly across his skin, spreading gooseflesh, pebbling his nipples. He murmured over and over as he went, telling Lex how beautiful, how much he loved touching him…

With a sigh, Lex gave in completely. With every touch, Kal was marking him invisibly, sinking into him, his lips were impossibly soft, and so warm, and Lex was wondering how he could keep this feeling for the rest of his life. 

Kal laid his head on Lex's chest and breathed in. "You smell wonderful."

"Mmm. You said," Lex breathed, and moaned a little as Kal played with his nipples.

"I know, but…it's true. you are like nothing else in the world. I could lie here drinking in your scent all day…but I need to taste you, too." Kal kissed him from shoulder to shoulder, and his tongue drew loops and swirls along the curve of his collarbones, traced circles around and round his nipples until Lex was shuddering, and harder than he could have believed possible—Kal hadn’t touched him anywhere that he expected, but he was straining, dripping, moaning. 

"Ah, Lex, I can’t stop tasting you." Kal threw a leg over his, and his body hair made Lex shiver. It was like being touched by dozens of tiny, tiny hands. Kal's dick moved against him, hot and silky and huge—he could feel little moist trails bloom warm and then cool on his naked belly. 

"You see? Isn't this nice?" he was whispering, "you must get to know me, like I am getting to know you. I'm learning how smooth, how wonderfully smooth and delicious you are, how the very sight of you makes me weep—" he drew the slick, silky tip of his dick across Lex's skin, and Lex groaned. 

"I have to taste you. I feel you, I have to." Lex slid down, and Kal let him. 

"Oh yes, Lex, slow, slow. Feel it, taste, see how you make me move? Ah—how hard you make my penis?"

Lex tried to take over, tried to swallow Kal, but he wouldn't let him, he coaxed Lex back up until they were face to face again. "Kissing is a good thing to do, too, Lex. We have time for everything."

"Umm. I don't like to kiss; I'm not into romantic—umhp." Lex's protest was drowned in a kiss that started slowly, and built and built until Lex was squirming on the bed, thrusting up against Kal until Kal held him still, and looked down at him with not quite a smirk. 

"Everyone likes to kiss, Lex Luthor. You just didn’t know that you did." 

Lex nodded, panting again and thought of everyone Kal met between coming of age and now. He let go of jealousy—he had to, he simply couldn’t devote every waking moment until the end of his life to hunting down and killing Kal's ex's….

Kal licked Lex's neck again, and pulled back, he stretched, a long pull of muscle and skin and arching dick and Lex just…fell. Kal rolled to his belly like a panther and arched. "Feel inside," he said and Lex reached for the night table drawer. "No, just use your fingers," Kal purred, and Lex touched him, slid fingers into his still wet hole. "Feel that?" Kal gasped, and Lex shook his head. No, it was nice, slick, slicker than he expected, and soft, and hot but…he pressed his fingers in deeper, and there *was* something…a node, a…a ring, and when he touched it, pushed against it, it clasped his finger and…twitched. 

"Ah, that's it, there," Kal cried out, his shoulders dropped and he begged, "Lex please, please, fuck me Lex." Lex contemplated his dripping hand, clear fluid rolled down his fingers, dripped from his palm…his head was clear for a moment, clear enough to think how odd Kal's internal arrangements must be, because while he might not have worked his way through Metropolis and it's outlying suburbs like some, he had enough experience to know that this…this pulsating ring was not normal—usual--and yes, self lubing might be a mutant ability—but he was willing to bet it was more than that. And he'd find out about that later…right now there was an unbelievably gorgeous man under him screaming to be fucked. And this time—he was doing it slooooowly.

~o0o~

Kal groaned, his own voice echoed in his head, and his mouth was full of the taste of cotton, and some sort of wash used on the linens and his own skin, salt and cinnamon, Lex…he felt his head swimming, and the jolt of pleasure that shook him when Lex slid in so lowly began to grow, clever Lex hit his pleasure spot stroke after stroke and did it so slowly that he was ripping screams from him--Kal gave up any control and began to curse in kryptonian, his fingers flew out looking for anchor—he tore long strips in Lex's hideously expensive sheets, the fuzzy cotton fibers flew high and floated down again like a fabric snowstorm.

Lex yelled, and stopped, and for one awful second Kal thought he was about to be very upset over the loss of his sheets but no—Lex was shuddering, groaning, his fingers curved like hooks, and they dug into Kal's hips. Kal groaned at the delicious sensation and his fingers went through the mattress with an audible 'pop'…"Oh my god, how fucking strong *are* you?" Lex groaned.

Kal moaned, "Pretty phracking strong, don’t stop, holy gods, prhack me--I mean--fuck—oh, gaaaaawwds…"

Lex gasped and shoved in so hard Kal flew forward—"I'm guessing prhack means this," and he began to stroke, long, deep, and hard, into Kal.

"Yes, Rao's Daughters, you have a knack for language—oh! Oh!" He felt a surge rush under his skin, from his ass outwards, rushing to his belly and his chest and his neck, his face, heat filled his fingers, his toes, tingled outwards over every square inch of his skin—his whole *body* had an orgasm and for once he wasn't the least bit embarrassed over leaking like a broken jug...he wasn't even aware--what little mind power he had left was concentrating on the liquid fire rushing out of his penis and over what was left of the sheets, his hands, and on the spill of heat filling him as Lex twisted harder against the ring inside him--such a fast learner.…

*Lex, Lex, Lex, My Lex…*

*Oh, fuck yeah, mine, you're mine—Kal…Kal? What the hell…*

*Oh dear—oh dear--*


	17. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, Tripping The Light Fantastic

They fell apart in a tumble of wet and sticky limbs, Lex looking at Kal in shock. "What the fuck just happened—who was that? How did that—am I going crazy?"

Lex looked so terrified, Kal's heart broke for him. "No, no, you're not—I'm so sorry—it was me!" *what the phrack happened?* he shrieked inside.

*I—I—oh dear—I peeked, and, and—he latched on, or I projected—he *heard* me. US!* Kal detected the panic in the supposedly devoid of emotion voice.

"How is that possible?" Kal yelped, and Lex yelled. "What, how is what possible?" and Kal yelled "not you," and Lex looked around wildly, yelled back, "then who?" and Kal pointed at his head and said, "Him"! and Lex scrambled off the bed.

"Oh my god—you're hearing voices too? You're insane? We're both insane!"

*Innty—fix this!*

*Oh dear--* and a bolt of static crashed through Kal/Lex's brain and Lex fell forward into a blinding white--nothingness.

*Who are you? What have you done to me, to Kal?* Lex felt his head move, his hands move but there was nothing to touch and nothing to see—no smell, no sound until--

*We are—* and a cascade of images flooded Lex's mind, memories he never had, tastes and smells and experiences not his. Against the thick blank nothing, cites rose and fell, worlds grew, flew apart, stars burned and burned out. Great ships, machines, armadas, heroes, flew through the eternal night and brought life, death, enlightenment, safety, slavery, to every corner of the galaxy. People, of a dizzying variety, lived and died and shared their treasures, loved…love…he loved every one of them, their differences, their beautiful otherness…and interwoven in the story, a cool intelligence, a silent, secret observer. The cities shrank, became smaller and smaller, became a street, houses, one house, a garden, and in that garden beautiful people walked. There was love there, Mother, Father. Lex felt warm feminine arms hold him, soft lips touch his cheeks and a song, his nose prickled with a spicy warm scent…he felt arms thick with muscle lift him high, and set him on broad shoulders. A deep and serious voice talking—instructing…

There was school and festival and tests and fear and worry and then happiness…freedom.

There was love everywhere, all around him and a…a…what the hell?

Lex pulled out of the grip of memory like pulling out of taffy, groaned. His head was splitting, and a single memory filled his mind. "A cat…a what…a—whoa. Oh my…"

*You know, you really didn’t have to show him that…and how does this fall under the category 'fix'?*

"Oh my god, is it really possible to *do* that?"

*Okay, you really didn't have to show him…well, that was pretty interesting, I remember what he could do with the little suckers—*

"Kal!!"

*Kal…*

"What the fuck *are* you? I mean—what the fuck are you? What's a Krypton—oh. Oh, Kal." Lex's fear faded as another captured memory floated free. "You're alone." Lex put a hand out to Kal. "I'm so sorry."

Kal smiled sadly and shrugged. "Well. I'm used to it now. Somewhat."

Lex nodded, full of sympathy, feeling what it was like to be the last of his species. Another thought rolled through his poor overstressed mind. "Wait a minute--" he gasped. "—you rule the galaxy!" He vacillated between outrage and even more outrage. "You *own* everything out there!"

"Lex—I do *not!*"

Lex relaxed a fraction. "I know, not you personally…"

Kal nodded, and said, "My Uncles does." He said it in a tone other people would use to say, "We have a puppy."

At Kal's words, more images tumbled and leapt in Lex's head. He fell against the bed, looking up at Kal in not quite awe, but close. He said, "I've been screwing the nephew of the Emperor of the…worlds. You people, you conquered everything…" He shot upright again, and glared at Kal. "What would have happened if we'd gone out there, past our little huddle of planets?" he asked.

"You would have been found." He smiled, as if he offered Lex a treat. "You would have joined the Worlds. You see how that would have been a good thing, don't you?" Kal said in a puzzled tone. Lex's expression was not one of unbridled joy.

"No! What is the good of being conquered by them—you—them!"

Kal held up placating hands. "No, no, My Lex. The people are happy to be one with us. They love us; they need the guidance we give." He looked slightly doubtful as he went on. "They—they do love us, don't they? They celebrate the Emperor, they--" He recalled some of the looks, the whispers he'd heard on his journey, and yes, some of the looks could have been interpreted as resentment. It was possible that…he'd been ignorant of the true nature of some of the behavior he'd observed. He was trying to process the disturbing new information when Lex broke in on his thoughts.

"Happy? How the fuck can you ignore those torture chambers they call Hells, testing people to death, the loss of Free Will?" Lex shouted.

Kal cringed a bit against Lex's outburst. "But—they live as we do, Lex. Their lives are no different than ours. I was tested to find out if I was worthy too. Only those that meet Rao's guidelines live. It's…it's the way it is. But only Kryptonians need pass—your people would never have had to take the tests."

"Oh my god, that's what that was…" Lex went pale as the sheets.

"We allow them their gods, their language, their customs. We just ask that they swear fealty to us, and help to run the empire. Everyone contributes to the Empire—money, food, goods, lives…it's all to the good. It really is, Lex. People are prosperous and happy and safe."

Lex stared in growing horror. "Oh Kal. Oh Kal. You might hate me but—I'm so fucking thankful your people are dead."

Kal gasped and flew to his feet, his face white as if Lex had struck him. "You don’t understand."

Lex peered at Kal as if he could see into his head. He said, "You, AI, explain to him. You must know Earth's history. Are you blocking him? Show him—Rome, Persia, England…show him what it means. To conquer."

Kal jerked, and gasped, his eyes going in and out of focus. "But it's not like that! *We're* not like that. We only want good for our people, all of them."

Lex nodded. "I know, I know. He wrapped arms around Kal, and whispered into his neck. "I believe you, Kal, I believe in you."

~o0o~

Kal lay on the wonderful large bed next to Lex, eyes closed, just enjoying the sound of his breathing, the hypnotic thump-thump of his heartbeat…or tried to. A certain Artificial Intelligence refused to keep it's thoughts to itself….

*That has never happened before. I'm not sure how, but the minute I attempted to reach out, he grabbed me. Pulled me in. I've never felt that before.*

Kal smiled. *He's special. He's much more advanced than the average human.*

*He's more than special. He's also different from the humans we've encountered so far. He's. Well, slightly more like a Kryptonian. I suspect he's been altered by the pieces of the Home World.*

*Oh…but that's positive, isn’t it? That's good for him and for me. That's why we were meant to find each other.* He rolled to his side, and gazed at Lex's sleep softened face. His breath, deep and even, flowed against Kal's cheek and his fingers were curled loosely around Kal's. Kal wanted to wake him up and kiss him, but he contented himself with lightly stroking his thin ginger brows, his warm smooth scalp. *Rao loves him, I can tell.* He laid his hand on Lex's chest and felt the steady beat throb against his palm. *Miraculous….*

The AI was silent for a long time before speaking again. *This concerns me. What of other people who've come in contact with the meteorites?*

*What about them? They'll enjoy the same enhancements that My Lex has. Where's the difficulty? Where's the problem?*

*I don’t know, Kal-El …Somehow, I'm certain that it's not that simple.*

Kal shrugged, and curled around Lex, enjoying the feel of the luxurious fabric sliding over him, but more importantly, warm skin against skin. *We'll think about it tomorrow, all right?*

~o0o~

"First, let me make this clear—there will be no reading of my mind. Ever."

"Lex! Don’t be silly. We didn’t read your mind. We were sharing information, that's all. Some how, you slipped into our information loop. What you saw was not my mind, it was Intty—the interface's memory of my memories, not my actual memories. So you see, that's not reading minds!"

Lex looked confused. "So…I didn’t read your mind, I read information about you the AI held? But there was emotion…and I felt something in my head, something…poking me."

"Truly, Lex, there is no need to fear, mind reading is a children's fable." Kal smiled fondly and patted Lex's arm. "So…is there breakfast? Shall I make some? I've learned to make hen's ova very tasty and edible. They are absolutely inedible until cooked." He made a face in disgusted reminiscence. "Truly inedible. I'd rather eat fireworm larva all day…"

Lex stopped and stared. "Fireworm…actually I have a cook, thank God." He rose out of the covers like a god rising from clouds in the heaven, at least to Kal's eyes. "You'll meet my mother this morning—we have breakfast together most days."

"Your mother?" Kal's eyebrows rose almost to his hairline.

"Ah, Pamela. She's not my birth mother. She raised me after my parents died. We run LuthorCorp together. It was my dad's company."

"Oh. I hope she likes me. I know I have a tendency to make an odd first impression."

"Odd first impression?" Lex smiled, and flushed slightly. "Well, perhaps. It would help if you showered and dressed, don't you think?"

Kal leaped off the bed. "I like the way I smell, but you may be right. Your Pamela might not be as enthralled with your scent as I am."

"Shower! Now!"

He dodged the pillow Lex threw and dashed towards the bathroom, and Lex clearly heard his gasp of pleasure. "Finally! A real cleansing room! Is there a—oh, Lex…."

Lex came in to the room, treated to the sight of Kal bending over, examining the spa tub. It took a moment before he was actually able to breathe, and to swallow.

"Oh, this is lovely." He looked up at Lex, who discovered he'd not yet relearned the art of talking. "This is almost like the tub we have—had—at home." The delighted smile on his face dimmed. He sighed and said, "Sometimes, it's easier when things are odd and alien. It's when there are similarities that I feel the…the gap inside."

Lex sat on the edge of the sunken tub with Kal, and stroked his arm. Kal captured Lex's fingers and squeezed lightly. "Lex, finding you was the most incredible gift I've ever received. I'm happy to meet your mother, and to have met your aunt and uncle. You have a very fine family." He paused, and lifted a gentle hand to cup Lex's cheek. "I thought I'd lost anything that held meaning for me, until Rao gave me a reason to look to the future."

Lex blinked hard, and covered Kal's fingers with his own. "Kal…Kal…I should tell Cook there'll be three for breakfast."

Kal grinned, bright again. "Please let her know that one of the three is very, very, *very* hungry?"


	18. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, What Can Compare To A Mother's Love?

Kal followed Lex into a room that was dominated by shades of blue, every corner bright with sunlight. Kal smiled. He approved. It was warm with the sun and inviting, a friendly room.

At one end of a long dining table made of a deep red wood, sat an elegant woman. Short reddish hair framed her face, but what caught the eye was her smile. Her dark eyes were bright and inquisitive and she held her head at a familiar slight tilt as she observed him. Kal felt her gaze over every inch of his skin, so intense he wondered for a moment if it was indeed possible to look into another's mind—he liked her instantly. She reminded him of Lex.

"Hello," she said cheerfully. "I'm Pamela, and you must be Kal King. What a pleasure to meet you. You know, I feel as if I know you." She smiled sweetly and Lex sighed.

*I'm sure she does know everything there is possible to know about you*

*shhh, she seems very nice. What a lovely smile she has--* "The pleasure is all mine. I'm so happy to meet the woman who nurtured My Lex. You must be so proud of him. He's just…" Kal turned to smile at a pink cheeked Lex. "Oh, but you must have heard this same speech so often from Lex's admirers."

"Hmm. Lex's admirers tended to do things like leave their boxers under the front seat of the car. I can't say any conversation with them tended to go beyond 'Get out of my house this instant.'"

"Mother! You're going to embarrass me. Kal doesn't want to hear that," he said, ignoring Kal's fascinated look.

"Yes." She took a sip of coffee, stopped to savor the brew—Kal sniffed. Earthy, hints of chocolate and caramel, a faint acidity that he knew made the flavor deeper, richer...Brazilian if he wasn't mistaken… Kal felt himself falling in love again. She was wonderful, but of course Lex's mother would be. She was beautiful, smart, had excellent taste and loved her son very much.

Lex motioned for Kal to take the seat next to her, and he sat at her other side. He leaned over and kissed her cheek when she bent towards him. "We're getting busy at LC, hon. We're kicking around some new ideas...looking into venturing into space," she said casually. "We've had some interest in joint research projects from some of our overseas friends."

"You're serious? I've been telling you forever how important that is for us." He beamed at her, the smile dimming just a tiny bit as his eyes darted in Kal's direction and away.

She smiled and said, "Of course, it'll be your responsibility. Next week, we'll be wining and dining some interesting people overseas. Brush up on your French, dear…"

Kal watched them, and he felt a deep wave of sadness. He missed his mother and father. Watching the two of them made him sad, but happy also. They loved each other so very much…*why* did Lex keep looking at him?

The conversation finally turned from LuthorCorp's possible expansion into space and turned back to Lex's other breakfast companion.

"So, Kal, what is it you do?" Pamela asked. Her tone of voice indicated that whatever it was probably didn't involve much more than looking attractive, but that kind of innuendo had never been turned on Kal and he failed to recognize it. He treated the question with all the seriousness he treated any question directed towards him. He totally missed the little wince that flitted over Lex's face.

"Well, at the moment, I am doing nothing. I worked at a wonderful place—doing the selling of the Coffee. But now, I am Lex's. However, I'm sure that I can be helpful to Lex in his new endeavor-"-*STATIC* "--or not.* Ouch*," he said accusingly, pouting slightly.

*Remember, we're disguised as average humans? As much as that's possible?*

*Can you possibly insist on that charade, seeing as you allowed Lex to see *every* little thing about us? About me? Lex knows all, so what is the difference if Pamela also knows? She *should* know. And I will tell her*

*Kal-El, you are a being made wholly of exasperation. Truly, you test the limits of any sentient's patience. I—I am without words---*

*I don’t know, you seem to have more than plenty. Also, you are so full of quall. Your emotions are showing, Innty. But I will refrain from laughing and figuratively pointing—ow. Sore loser*

"Kal…are you all right? You seem…troubled."

"No, no, Lex's Pamela. I'm fine. I…Lex, perhaps you have something to tell her? About me?"

"You…you want her to know about you." Lex smiled weakly at Pamela, a littler tic playing at the corner of his mouth. "Everything? Isn't…isn’t your friend opposed to that?"

"Perhaps, but my friend is as mistrustful and anxious as an elderly maiden aunt suddenly thrust into a men's bath house. I want to share all with my new family. We should start from a place of honesty, do you not think so?"

*static*

*It will be all to the better, Interface mine, you'll see*

~o0o~

Share all…tell Pamela that Kal of the House of El came from a long line of Els, world conquerors of a race of conquerors, a species that considered itself the pinnacle of sentient development…it was a concept so mind-boggling that Lex felt a bit intimidated—they must have been easy to bend the knee to--he shook his head hard, chasing alien thoughts away. No. Humans would find their own path. What the Kryptonians had offered was a neat and tidy kind of slavery. He knew in his bones there was no cruelty in Kal, none at all. But having been part of their history thanks to the peculiar AI, he knew that an attitude like Kal's was as rare among his people as it was among Earthlings.

Kal's shining eyes were locked on his. Lex licked his lips nervously but nodded in agreement. He knew that Pamela had to know. She had to know everything and he'd make sure that she didn’t hold any of it against Kal. She should know Kal as much as he knew him.

If it spurred her creation of the space division, so much the better.

He looked at Kal, who was smiling at them both. Certainly there was no mystery between himself and Kal. There was nothing in the past that either one of them could hide from the other. Lex thought about one night in Spain, a pair of toreador pants, nipple rings and…and a church…God. He'd hoped to grow old and senile and lose that particular memory, but since the AI's recent tossing his mind like a salad, even events that at the time had been clouded by drugs and alcohol were horribly crystal clear. Horribly. "Pamela…I'm sorry. God, really sorry."

"For what sweetie? You haven't done anything yet today to piss me off. I'll grant you, the day is young…"

"Ah-ha ha. Kal…go ahead. Tell her whatever you want. Just…maybe not so much about your cousin? And your grandfather's job?" And his eyes plainly said, 'For God's sake don't mention the interface.'

Kal nodded. He wasn't so sure that what frightened Lex was bad, but earth history had been…enlightening, and not in the way having sex with Anna had been…the history lesson had been much worse. He took a deep breath and said, "Pamela, I'm not from around here....

~o0o~

She looked at Kal, she looked at Lex. Took a shaky breath and said, "Damn."

"Damn?"

"I'm sorry, you're going to have to let me process this just a little. She took a sip of her coffee and grimaced—"Cold."

Kal tsked in sympathy. "Allow me." He took her cup, and stared into it for a second. She gasped when a ring of hot red whisked around his iris, and the air shimmered. Her cup was handed back to her steaming.

"Gosh, that's—that's convenient."

Lex gasped, "Convenient. Funny, that's not the word I'd have chosen." He squirmed as discretely as possible in his seat. Kal reached over to pat his hand, and smirked.

"Later, My Lex, I will show you the full range of all my abilities. Whit particularly liked the vibrating--"

"Ah-hem." Pamela's cheeks pinked faintly, and she hurried on. "Anyway…it's fascinating to meet…" she laughed shakily."An actual alien. An intelligence from another world and…there are hundreds of intelligent races out there?"

"Oh my goodness yes. So many, though I've only met a few myself, before my tour was interrupted."

Lex murmured, "Probably lucky for you. It would have been awful to have you die of exhaustion…"

"Lex! Don't be jealous."

"So…your people are travelers? Nomads? You talk about the tour--"

"No, the Tour was sort of a traditional journey Kryptonians my age—newly matured adults—took. It wasn't an obligation—it was more of a reward, I suppose. *My* people were scientists and--and politicians, I guess you could say. My father was a great scientist. And my mother was also."

Pamela smiled. "Sweetheart, why don’t you run on over to the kitchen, and see if Cook might have for us to nibble on. Since there's noting left here," she said wryly, examining the wreckage of breakfast.

Lex watched her while she watched Kal leave.

"Alexander, what is that you want from me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why give me this information? Do you trust what he's said?"

"Mother, trust me, I believe every word Kal's saying and I trust him with my life. I don’t want you to do anything; I just thought you should know. You should know also, I love Kal, like I've never loved anyone else, ever."

She flapped her hand, "Yes, yes, I saw that the moment you came in. He is lovable, I can see that too. The feeling is more than mutual. Well, my best beloved child, seems sometime between yesterday afternoon and last night, you got married," she laughed and toasted him with the remains of her coffee. "You found your soul mate."

Lex sputtered. "I'm not—we didn't—married--?"

"You might as well have, sugar. You know what? I say we have a family reunion—Martha and Jonathan need to know that you've finally settled down. And with a hell of a guy." She smiled, and Lex turned red as a beet.

Kal was in the doorway, a plate of muffins in his hand, and his eyes sparkling. "It's true! I have also! How wonderful! And yes! And thank you!"

Pamela glanced over at Lex. "Oh my poor boy—you are in a world of trouble."

Lex nodded and dropped his head into his open hands. "I know. I'm completely alien whipped."

Pamela snorted. "Mmmm…all right. Let's plan to meet in Smallville tomorrow evening?"

"Sounds like an excellent plan," he smiled.


	19. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, The Light In The Tunnel

Kal enjoyed the ride to Smallville, enormously. Lex managed to restrain him from hanging his head out of the window as they flew towards the Kansas countryside.

"Oh, this is wonderful! This machine is incredible—it seems almost aware." He stroked the dash lovingly; his fingers gliding around the curves, fingertips lingering in the indentions, slowly moving in…out…caressing knobs, large thumb sliding over and over smooth round surfaces, press, relax, press, relax…"So…alive…"

Lex managed to tear his eyes away and refocus on the road. He squirmed in the butter soft leathery grip of his seat and cleared his throat. "Yes, I've felt that way myself. It does seem alive. Sometimes, the throb of the engine—it's almost like…"

"Like it's speaking to you? And the smell…leather, and spice, and…you," Kal said. He turned a million watt smile on Lex that shifted into an invitation to mad kinky exploration. He leaned closer to Lex and sniffed deeply. Lex managed to keep the car from weaving, though it was harder to do so as Kal's hand landed on his knee and inched higher.

"My," Lex breathed, "Your hand is awfully warm. Hot even," he gasped when Kal palmed the growing bulge disturbing the perfect fit of his trousers.

"Lex, will we sleep in the top room of the barn? On your sleeping device? Surrounded by the art you resemble…I want to see you unclothed, in the moonlight," he stroked, "hard, your beautiful penis erect and waiting my touch, waiting for me to taste you…drink you…"

"Fuck! Kal, stop! You can't do that while I'm driving, especially not over a hundred!" Lex eased back and the car slowed. A bead of sweat worked its way down his temple, over a throbbing vein, and down his suddenly too tight throat. Kal smiled brightly.

"My Lex! Do not worry! We are perfectly safe--I am your ultimate safety device." He leaned closer and flicked his tongue along the curve of Lex's ear.

"My ultimate safety device is going to stop my heart if he doesn't calm down. Plus, I'd like to appear on Aunt Martha's doorstep without a hard on, if you don’t mind."

Kal giggled and leaned in the opposite direction. "I'm sorry, it's just that you and me in this small space concentrates our scent…it's intoxicating." He slid long fingers over himself, outlining the hard length pressing against the inseam of his jeans, and Lex cursed quietly. "You're an insidious industrial spy out to kill the only legal heir to LuthorCorp and thus pave the way for a bastard by-blow of the late Lionel Luthor to take the reins, aren’t you?"

Kal laughed, high, bright and sunny. "Lex! You should write fiction! That's most amusing!" He twisted in his seat and gawked at the corn that rose like emerald waves on either side of the road. "I never tire of seeing oceans of grasses! It's astonishing, so green, so—" He took a deep sniff and sighed. "So fresh and alive—and look, we are here!"

Lex glanced as the Smallville Meteor sign flew by. This was the fastest he'd ever arrived in Smallville. He debated heading to the mansion, or going to the soon to be re-opened and retrofitted plant or straight to the farm. He thought and drove and Kal sat quietly and talked to the AI.

*Kal-El, we should examine the suit, now that we are here again. Doubtful that there will be any major problems, but it might need some minor maintenance.*

*Yes…the small wildlifes are quite aggressive in their nest building…we will look—tomorrow?* he asked hopefully.

*That should be fine. In the mean time*---a small soft burst of static interrupted it—*enjoy your ride.*

*Oooo, you imply naughtiness. We can only hope.*

Lex looked over at Kal's small coo of pleasure. "Hmm?"

"Nothing—the house! Martha and Jon-Than Kent, I've missed them." He sighed. "Jon-Than is very attractive man. And Martha is a lovely woman as well." Kal smiled fondly and Lex looked at him narrowly.

"I suppose they are attractive people, I've never noticed myself." Not like that…

Kal nodded, eyes glued on the house looming larger in the windshield. "Yes, Jon-Than has a lovely tattoo on his—" He leaned out of the window and waved wildly at Martha. "Hello, the Aunt! Greetings!"

Lex was torn between warring desires—to know what and where the tattoo was, and to forget forever he knew that Uncle Jon had one. An instinct he'd learned to respect in his clubbing days told him he'd be happier not ever knowing.

"Alexander—Kal! Oh, how wonderful to see you again." Aunt Martha hurried towards the car, impatiently waiting as they both climbed out. "Sweetie!" she crowed, and threw cinnamon scented arms around Lex, peppered him with kisses while he pretended to hold her off. "You look wonderful, so handsome, so—oh my god, you look relaxed—how did that happen?" She turned to smile wide at Kal, and winked.

Kal waited his turn patiently, smiling like a supernova. Even the AI buzzed warmly--Kal was so pleased that it seemed as though he was broadcasting his feelings…the AI checked quickly to insure itself that was not the case.

Jonathan came out on to the porch and pointed at Lex and Kal. He called out with a fierce scowl, "If everyone's not in the house in five seconds, that pie is mine."

Both the boys raced up the porch stairs and thundered past Jonathan to quickly seat themselves around the table. Jonathan followed Martha inside, chuckling. "I figured that would get you two." He skewered Lex with a glare. "Even when he wouldn't eat anything yellow or anything white or anything much at all, we could count on him to eat Martha's peach pie." He stopped and looked at the two seriously, "Glad you're back, boy—and you too Kal. Da—Dang good to see you again."

His smile was so wide and so bright, Lex was reminded of the sun bursting through clouds, in fact, oddly, he was reminded of Kal…he giggled and blushed slightly. Kal was right—Jon was handsome—and that thought was immediately shoved down into the mental pit children reserved for 'Parents Do Have Sex' and 'Some Day, I'll Have Hair In My Ears Just Like The Old Man' and forgotten.

Dinner was a noisy affair, everyone eager to share what news they had, and both Lex and Kal relished it—it was a welcome relief from the formal life he lived in the city for Lex and Kal loved it because it reminded him of home.

"When is Pamela coming," Martha asked. "I really missed her these last few months."

Lex nodded. "She's missed you too. She said she'll be here tomorrow—that means probably a day or two." He grinned wryly at Martha and she smiled back.

Jonathan shook his head. "Hunh. Well, considering it's been a while since you've last taken more than a day or two to yourself; it's pretty obvious the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, Alexander."

"Hey--" Lex protested, "I was just here a few days ago, more or less…" Jon snorted and rolled his eyes towards Kal who grinned back. Lex sighed. "Well, you're going to see much, much more of me and Pamela soon. We're about to reopen the old plant."

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "Really? That plant's been closed for a long time," he mused. "I don't know if the folks around here are going to be too crazy about a fertilizer plant opening, what with the pollution it'll cause—"

"Oh, no, we plan to remake it into a research facility, no production there at all. But we'll still need lots of local labor, so there'll be jobs—driving, assembly jobs, we'll have to staff a machines shop—it should prove to be beneficial to the town."

Jon nodded "I figured it would be, son. I can't see you doing anything here that wouldn't be."

Lex smiled. It was good to be sitting down with his second biggest supporter.

Martha poured coffee, and Kal sighed happily, and edged closer to Lex. He took his hand quietly, with no fanfare, and sipped his coffee with his free hand. His aunt and uncle just stared, before smiling…Martha grinned a little. "Whit's going to be disappointed—and that serves him right."

"Aunt Martha, that's outmoded thinking, and besides," he said, "Whit is Whit," as if that explained everything and in a way, it did.

Jonathan frowned. "Morals don't ever go out of fashion young man—how would you like it if a person who claimed to love you was cheating on you?"

"I wouldn't," Lex said. But Lex personally felt anyone who didn’t know that Whit wasn't ever going to be faithful was lying to themselves. Lex shook his head. Uncle Jon had never been happy about Whit and his occasional hook-ups. It was a testament to Whit's ability to charm that he was allowed on the farm. Lex hesitated…could that be a mutant ability…no, no. Whit was just…an incredibly likable and irresistible slut. He glanced over at Kal. Yeah. Incredibly irresistible. And there was no way in hell he did three-somes. He better let Kal know that now before he suggested some weird arrangement.

Almost as if he'd read his mind, Kal turned to Lex with a big smile.

"My Lex, why don’t we—"

"No."

"But you have no idea—"

"No."

The Kents looked on in confusion, and Kal got that little wince-grimace smile that meant he was being--Lex grinned--scolded. Good. That Interface was as good a substitute for Jiminy Cricket as he could hope for. He smirked at Kal. And apparently on his side too.

Kal stuck his tongue out.

"Oh, mature, that," Lex murmured.

Kal did it again.

~o0o~

"Have you learned your lesson yet?" Lex panted.

Kal groaned. "Ooooh yes, yes, I think so…never show the tongue unless I'm prepared to use it..." He hissed as Lex scraped teeth over the head of his penis, trying to do it as hard as Kal liked and not shudder.

"Oh, Lex…I wish to use it, please, please…"

Lex smirked up at him. "No, your punishment continues. Reflect on the evil of your ways." He continued his journey around the landscape of Kal's body, mapping every little spot that made him moan or squirm…he discovered that the oddly ridged strands of muscle that ran along his spine were also extremely sensitive to being nibbled and licked, that the little knob of bone at the end of his spine and right about his cleft loved being sucked on judging by the noise that Kal made…making love to Kal was not only a fantasy come true, it was also educational—one never knew when one might need to say in Kryptonese, "Fuck me now, or I will conquer your planet in the name of Rao and all the gods!"

Lex smiled. Who knew he had a kink for alien overlords?


	20. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, Things Fall Apart

**Interlude: The Light**

Gar-An leaned back in his chair, adjusted its position so that it let him stare up at the gnarled ductwork and wires above him in the 'ceiling' of the ship. Occasional wheezing beeps let him know that the ship was working out coordinates for the next jag of their voyage. They'd better find something worth selling to some idiot soon, or they were all going to be up quall creek. He sighed, turned his attention back to the monitors and searched through more inter-species porn. 

"Be a privateer," he muttered to himself. "Explore new worlds, be your own man. Get out from under the cushy fur lined boot of Kryptonian dominion…" what an asshole. This Rao forsaken bit of the universe was unrelenting in its desire to be boring. It was the kingdom of boring, the pinnacle of nothing happening, it was great steaming heaps of boredom on the road of God This Is My Life…he snapped upright when somewhere on the board a chime sounded, and the ship said, _"match."_

"Match? Match to what?" He shot to his feet when the Imperial Seal lit one of the tracking screens. "Phracking match? Match to The Lost, you mean? Emperor Asshole's nephew? No phracking way. You're full of quall…" He leaned over the board, poked and pushed buttons and yelled to make them function faster. The screen showed an area of junk, lots and lots of it…and dead in space, a cruiser. *The* cruiser? 

"No, no," he was muttering, "That's not possible—"

"What's not possible, naked ape?" 

A Morne leaned over his shoulder, hot wet breath flared against the back of his neck, and he shivered. Moments like this reminded him he'd never bought that the Morn only ate non-sentient flesh. Gar-An eased out from under the looming hairy presence. "Looks like some garbage over in that area." He traced an arc on the bright screen in front of them and the Morne sucked his teeth. 

"Hmm. Does look like wreckage and not a garbage dump…arrr-hrm, look there," it said, and its whiskers curved upwards. "There's a wormhole. Unmarked."

"You're kidding." He quickly ascertained that yes, there was a wormhole, not too distant from the wreckage they were picking up. They dropped a probe into the hole, and waited a short time before recalling it. They extracted information, too much information for the short time it'd been gone—according to the probe, several months had passed it.

Together they stared in astonishment at the proof of an incredible discovery. "Not just distance but time as well," Gar said in an awe filled tone. He looked at the Morne, and looked up to the ceiling and devoutly told the duct work, "Thank you Rao, for your generosity. From this point forward, I'll be able to bathe in kowm milk every day. I'll have my pick of—of—phracking everything."

The Morn grinned, displaying wet, white daggers—just too many teeth for a thinking being to have. "We, you mean." He slid his claws over the board. "I'm getting ready to drop a claim beacon near the hole."

Gar-An nodded, still dazed. His fingers flew over the keyboard near his seat. "Okay, I'm looking over the junk out there. Hmmm. Corpsicle, corpsicle…there's a piece of escape pod...more corpses…one of them could be the missing cousin..."

"Let's see if we can get an ID on the ship—ur…" He coughed, his whiskers curled in and almost met over his nose. "…it *is* the Liberty Hall."

"Frell you, it is not." Gar stared at his shipmate. "It's not…Whur, you're lying."

"I will not eat your liver," Whur said, "because I am certain that the thought of impending stupendous riches has momentarily caused you to wander from sanity. You can thank me for that later," he winked, a broad flat tongue whipped over his jaws and Gar shuddered from head to toe.

The Morne laughed, and turned all of his attention back to the screen. "Urr," Whur snorted. "That's odd…there's a beacon there all ready—but through the other side." His snout wrinkled and he flicked the stub of his tail. His claws clicked the depressions on his side of the keyboard. "It's the sort used to mark a suit. There might be someone down there. Depending on how much time they've jumped."

Gar stared at Whur. "What if that kid made it to the planet on the other side, that habitable one? How much will we be repaid for bringing back a live kid instead of a mummy in an evac suit?"

 

"Godsfangs, you are such an asshole. But I enjoy your endless enthusiasm. I'm going to look."

"You can't go down there; you don’t know what's down there. You could die, and then I'd be stuck trying to fly this death trap by myself."

Whur leaned over to Gar and inhaled, mouth wide and eyes thin yellow slits in his orange and black dappled face. "Hurrrr, I knew you liked me. You were just waiting for the right moment. Yes, I surrender to you," he grinned, a fence of gleaming ivory blades and Gar-An shuddered so hard, it appeared he was having a small seizure. 

"Really not," he gasped. "I respect you as a being and have no comment on the life you choose—and I understand on your home world, types of sexuality have no meaning…but stop looking at me like I'm steak. I am not attracted to *any* species of male. And anyway, fur makes me sneeze."

"You're off-putting and rude. But I like that in a person."

~o0o~

 _A small ship dropped from the hold of the Reaper, and fell into the coruscating hole miles from the hulk of the Liberty Hall._


	21. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, The Bridge Collapses

**The Tunnel**

_Kal lay on his back in the middle of an alpine meadow high in the mountains of a distant country. The air smelled like the ice fields in the months of Rao's Sleep…crisp and clean, but the sun beating down on them warmed him, made him melt. That, and the heat of Lex's slow thrusts into him. Slow, measured, and determined to give the utmost pleasure, coupled with his hand slick with Kal's own lubrication and wrapped tight around his penis reduced Kal to a mindless puddle of pure need. Kal raised his hips to meet Lex's push inside him, to drive his penis into the slippery tunnel of Lex's fist. He sighed and closed his eyes to better concentrate on the feeling._

_Under him, the grass caressed his skin like hundreds and hundreds of tiny fingertips. He luxuriated in the feel of each individual blade massaging him, and Lex's hot heavy penis pressing through the ring inside him, slow thrust by slow thrust. He could feel it building, a tickling, tingling, throbbing under his skin, the growing heat that made his cheeks flush red, made his lips feel hot and swollen…he opened his eyes to the sky above, so blue…so blue and white…._

_Lex growled through clenched teeth, his dick was impossibly far down Kal's throat, so far…Kal swallowed and Lex howled, his heels dug trenches into the fine white sand of the beach. His fingers were knuckle deep in the sand and cool, the rest of him burned from Kal's touch, from the sun, from wanting, needing to come so bad…._

_Lex threw his head back and yelled, spurt thick pearly ropes of come across Kal's heaving chest. "Oh God…god…" With avid, greedy eyes, Kal watched him unravel; shake apart into a million pieces. He caught his full red lip in his teeth and he trembled every time Lex's come dropped, thick and hot, onto his skin.  
Lex groaned, drinking in the sight of Kal slowly, deliberately licking come wet fingers with a smile…._

~o0o~

The week passed in a distinct honeymoon air. There was a sense in both of them that it was a celebration, that the whole world was celebrating their joining. Kal lay under one of the huge old oaks that lined the borders of the Kent land, with Lex's head in his lap. He stroked over and over the smooth ivory tinted, delicate skull under his hand. He felt unbelievably gifted, that this man should trust so completely in him, knowing how fragile his bones, his life was, to a being like Kal. It made his eyes fill, this amazing love…

Lex lay comfortably in the nest of Kal's legs, eyes closed and a small smile on his lips. "Stop it, you big girl," he muttered. 

"How did you know?" Kal asked and quickly swiped at the moisture on his cheeks. 

"Mostly because you're a big girl," Lex smirked. He stretched out and a little creak of satisfaction snuck out of him, and Kal smiled again. His smile turned a trifle evil and he reached for a tall blade of grass next to him, broke it off so that he held a long stem. 

"Don't even think," Lex said and he dropped it with a pout. 

"I really think you can read my mind, _*husband*_ ," and Lex opened one eye at the unfamiliar word. 

"Why can't the AI teach me to speak Kryptonian? It was in my mind before."

"I don’t know, My Lex. Maybe there was something in the first contact, some circumstance that made it possible?"

"Hmm." Lex shifted delightfully against Kal's lap, picked up the stem Kal had broke off and tucked it between his teeth. Kal inhaled sharply. There was something terribly erotic about the thin green blade clenched in Lex's sharp white teeth…he wondered if he could get him to do the same with his poor neglected nipples…."I only remember that we were having some very, very good sex at the time."

Kal refocused on what was important—a different important thing—"True, but we have had it many times since, and delightful as each time has been, that connection has never happened again."

"Oh well. I'll just have to learn the language the old fashioned way." He turned his head and bit Kal's thigh. "In bed."

Kal smiled and stroked again." You will learn, beloved. There is nothing in this world you cannot do."

~o0o~

The afternoon turned slowly to early evening, and they decided to return to the farmhouse. Kal thought it would be fun to race the Maserati, and Lex gave in to what he called Kal's wheedling—what Kal referred to as gentle persuasion.

Lex gunned the engine, and with a wild bright grin, Kal took off, not running at his top speed, Lex could clearly see him….they raced through the countryside, Kal laughing as Lex raced faster and faster to keep close. He put on a burst of speed and zipped far ahead of Lex, the countryside around him turning into a blur of green and blue. He threw his arms wide as he ran and felt the world vibrate around him. He felt free and happy and couldn't wait to hold Lex again.

He came to a stop on a little bridge spanning a low, gently murmuring river. He grinned wide, waved wildly as Lex came into view. He leaned against the railing, turned to look into the murky green water. He felt a moment of disorientation, a shiver deep inside each cell and he knew something awful was about to happen—he whipped around, every particle of his being trained on Lex 

*KAL*

"Unh—what's happening, what's—" Kal felt his entire being seize, it felt as though something was roiling over his skin, smashing into him, reaching into his core and he couldn’t move—"Transbeam—" he gasped, and the air around him shimmered. He managed to catch a glimpse of Lex looking horrified and then…nothing. Darkness. A void.

~o0o~

The AI instantly identified the sensation as a transporter beam—somewhere in the sky above them was a vessel of the Dominion—some how, some way, they'd been found. It searched quickly through every bit of information about the Dominion that it had, all the knowledge it possessed. It discarded irrelevant information, honed it, molded it and when the Lex came closer, when there came a peak of emotion running high between his charge and the husband of his charge…the AI drove everything it could into Lex's brain, he ripped open Lex's mind, and choked it full—prayed to a hopefully attentive Rao that the Lex was as strong as a being as he seemed…and then….

~o0o~

Lex flew up to the bridge, laughing and paying not one bit of attention to his speedometer. Hell, he was Lex goddamn Luthor—he could survive a traffic ticket—or three. Ahead of him on the bridge a blur became Kal. Kal whipped towards him and Lex nearly swerved--blinded by Kal's smile, his joy. Kal waved crazily, making Lex laugh even more and then…the Universe stepped in, looked about, raised an eyebrow and decided this had gone on long enough and put a stop to it.

Lex watched as Kal's smile dropped away, his eyes widened and his mouth…he looked horrified, frozen. He was surrounded by fireflies, millions of fireflies—Lex shook his head hard—Kal was in a cloud of shimmering particles, and a high pitched whine split the air, and he thought wildly, 'Kal's being stolen by the Enterprise?' before his paralysis broke and he tried to open the car door. Behind the translucent wall around him, Lex could tell Kal was screaming, and so was he--he was stuck in the car and Kal needed him. The door unlatched but before his foot touched the ground, Kal was leaving him, translucent and getting thinner before his eyes. 

His foot touched the road, and pain ripped through him like lightning, through his brain…

 _*I'm sorry, the Lex, I'm sorry, but when you wake up you'll understand. This is all I have, the rest is waiting for you in a cave on the ridge behind the plant. You'll understand when you wake. Use it, use all of this—_ and then, to Lex's great relief, there was nothing. Darkness. A void.

~o0o~

The earth was discovered—rediscovered—and added to the List. It would become part of the New Dominion. The fact it sat at the mouth of a Time Well made it even more attractive, and an added bonus was it's fertility. With a little winnowing, it would be a perfect place for the Masters to relax, to enjoy. It would make a perfect new world for the Kryptonian refugees. A place to call their own again. That it also held an attractive and capable workforce made it even more desirable. Whur smiled at the little Kyrptonian, huddled in the cargo bay. When it woke, he expected it would be overcome by gratitude. "We saved you, little hairless one. And we're not even going to charge you for that. Whuu! Call me a sentimental fool…"

~o0o~

Kal stood on the landing platform at New Kryptonopolis Elevator. Alone, more alone than he'd ever been. The silence in his mind ate at him. The AI was just that now, only an interface between himself and the now constantly updating information of the Dominion. Kal swallowed hard and blinked away moisture. He was surprised at how much he'd come to love the prudish personality…he ground his palms against his eyes. Maybe…maybe he'd imagined it all…maybe there never was an Innty, he'd just been asleep and gone quietly insane in his dreams.

In fact, he was feeling a bit out of touch with his sanity at the moment. It was almost too much after all his time on Earth, living quietly and simply in what was in comparison, the hamlet of Metropolis. The sights and scents of Daxam, even with his reduced awareness, threatened to overwhelm him and then, coming out of the multi-hued crowd, he saw them…his parents. Older than the last he'd seen of them, but not the seventy-five years they'd calculated it to be, Innty and he, when they'd thought themselves marooned on Earth. It seemed just a blink of the eye and there in front of him—the beloved faces of his parents. There were lines that hadn't been there before and streaks of gray in their hair, but their step was quick and their voices, their voices….behind them came old Frank, who just looked more dour than ever, and…and. Kal burst into tears. They were alive. They were alive.

Jor and Lara threw themselves on their son, wrapped him up in their arms and held him. They cried together, tears of joy, they touched his face and his chest and his arms, held his hands, kissed his eyelids and cheeks and hair over and over. They couldn't let go, almost unable to believe that their Birdie was back with them again, whole and safe, and never once questioned that he looked exactly like the child in their mind's eye, their beautiful boy.

Frank watched with a twist to his mouth that could have been a frown but might have been a smile. Tears floated briefly in his eyes. He allowed himself a moment or two of maudlin sentimentality before drawing himself upright. Any minute he'd have to lug the nit's baggage across town to the hovel they all currently occupied, and he was sure that he'd have to sweep up even more cat hair from the bedroom and the sheets…he looked around for the small mountain he expected. He only saw a miniscule kit bag at Kal's feet…"Young Master, where is your luggage, if I might ask?"

Kal looked at Frank like he'd been stabbed through and through. "I have nothing left," he said. Nothing at all." He looked around him, a hopeless expression on his pale face and then, burst into tears again….

Kal-El and his family were escorted through the streets of New Kryptonopolis by the Emperor's Hammer, Grand-dad Van. Grand-dad crying in happy relief wasn't as unearthly a sight as seeing old Frank weep, but it was nearly so. Kal felt disoriented by everything—the streets were narrower, and the vegetation so much less lush, the scent of the air was different. It was dryer and warmer and Kal felt like an alien all over again. His mother pet his hand over and over and his father kept touching him and Grand-dad kept clapping him on the shoulder and snorting "well, well," when he wasn't surreptitiously wiping his eyes.

When they arrived home, Kal wanted to weep again. "Home" was a block of blue and gray stone cottages within a larger block—a village of stone and red dust and Kryptonian flora struggling with native plants. Some of the familiar smells he'd been looking for were here, foods cooking, floral scents he'd almost forgotten, but they soothed him not at all, not like he'd expected them to. Standing in front of the gate to the El compound, he felt only…exhaustion. On all sides, there was not a single doorway vine in sight. No welcoming fragrance and bloom…he shook himself. He knew it would be different now. He'd known from the moment he'd awakened in the odoriferous hold of the Reaper, bereft of Innty, bereft of….

Joe-El and Lara went through the gate, one on each side of Kal, Grand-dad at his back. They stopped together inside the gate, and sent a prayer of gratitude to Rao and the house door flew wide and Nurse stood on the steps, waving her arms and hooting his name. Behind her, the slim shape of Rwrzft held fur covered hands to his mouth, the tip of his tail danced excitedly.

"Young Master Kal-El," she hooted, " home again! Oh, joyous day!"

He was home, all was well. His family alive, all of them and over come with joy…he dropped his head, and looked at the red dust beneath his feet. He'd never imagined at any point in his adventure that he'd come to view the House of Sleep as a reward, never imagined that he'd wish to fall into a deep, deep, sleep and never wake up. He'd lost Lex, and since coming back through the wormhole, he'd lost Innty…what was there for him? There was only one answer he could see, the only course of action left to him….


	22. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, Slouching Towards Smallville

_Lex watched his reason to draw breath disappear in a shower of gold sparkles—he heard nothing over the thundering pulse of blood in his ears, he doubted what he was seeing, it couldn't be, it wasn't happening--his mind raced wildly and the insane thought that the effect of Kal disappearing had been rather cheesy skittered around under his skull. The thought was followed by the most intense migraine he'd ever experienced—too much pain for him to move, or make a sound, or breathe…_

*Kal's husband…I'm sorry, but when you wake again you'll understand. This is all I have; the rest is waiting for you in a cave on the ridge behind the plant. You'll understand when you wake. Use it, use all of this--*

*the AI? Is that…you?*

*Yes, you must listen, this is important—I lied to you.*

* Lied? Lied to me…* Lex repeated and knew his contribution to the conversation was severely lacking.

*Yes, yes, lied, am a horrible creature, I abase myself—*

Machines could be sarcastic, Lex observed. *You're being kind of a bitch—*

*I lied when I said I couldn't read your mind—and now, I'm so sorry for what I am about to do to you—it's all for you and Kal-El, remember that—it's for Kal.*

The explosion in his head seemed to last forever--he was swimming in the knowledge of what felt like--everything. 

*I'm sorry,* he heard again. *You know what to do and where to start. For Kal* it repeated and was silent.

Lex blinked hard, black gave way to gray and gray to a blurry view of the roadside. He could smell car exhaust and warm blacktop and he had the oddest experience of feeling hollowed out and lonely inside his own head. He blinked again, and realized he was on his knees in front of the car, his hands planted in a puddle of cooling puke. He was grateful for two things, tissues…and having the money to do what had to happen next. He sat up, holding his hands carefully away from him and grimaced. He sighed, seemed unaware of the tears slipping down his face. He hated to disappoint Pamela but he saw no other way….

~o0o~

_In a cave not far from another system of currently 'undiscovered' caves chock full of odd drawings that an ancient visitor had left, detailing the sexual positions they were most fond of—it had been a long and boring journey to a boring little planet dominated by barely upright hairy beasts, and it had to make it's own fun—the stasis suit 'awoke'. A light in the forehead lit with a deep red glow, and the halves of it opened for access, dislodging dust and small animal nests. It put itself on alert but standing down, and initiated a small electric charge to convince the little life forms around it that this hotel was closed. It waited for its new owner._

~o0o~

Lex returned to the farmhouse and packed; flinging clothes into whatever suitcase they landed on, surprising himself by being completely unconcerned about minutia like creases and folds and whether sleeves were actually inside the case. Martha came up the stairs and stopped, apparently as astonished at Lex's uncharacteristic behavior as he was himself. His clothing would be a solid wrinkled mass by the time he unpacked again—before this moment it would have been physically impossible for him to disrespect his wardrobe this way. Now, now…his priorities had been violently rearranged, whittled down to one sharp stabbing point. Get his husband back. The Kryptonian word popped into his mind like a bubble expiring-- _ehmera_ and the flare of pain it produced left him momentarily breathless.

"Lex, where's Kal? What are you doing—honey—what's wrong?" Martha tried to hold Lex but he gently, firmly pushed her away and continued crushing his wardrobes into blocks.

"Aunt Martha, you know that I love you and Uncle Jon, don’t you?" He grabbed a handful of Kal's clothing, tossed carelessly over the back of the couch, as usual. He started to throw them into the open bags too, and stopped. He pressed a shirt against his face and breathed in. "Don’t ever doubt it," he said, his voice breaking. He turned away from her, stared out of the open loft doors; the air was so clear he could see to the horizon, there was nothing but fields of wheat and corn for miles and miles…"No matter what happens, or what I seem to be, don’t forget. Please."

"Alexander—tell me right now, damn it--"

"Kal is gone," he said. He turned to face her and she gasped. When he spoke his voice came from a million miles away. "I have to get him back." Difficult as it was, he focused on Martha and he could feel his eyes burning as he talked to her. "No matter what it takes." Martha took a step away, and after a second, held her hands out to him.

"Lex, Lex, don’t do anything—Kal wouldn't want you to—"

Lex smiled, a slow shark-like twitch of his lips. "Oh yes he would, Aunt Martha. He'd want me to do whatever it took. At any cost."

~o0o~

He was sitting in a cave, a little musty cave that held a thing called a stasis suit, had held several tons of acorns and many, many small untidy nests constructed of straw and empty snack bags…and a pop bottle holding a desiccated bouquet of roadside weeds. He'd gone a little insane at the sight of it. When he'd calmed down again, the cave was empty of everything but the suit.  
The suit stood like a sentry near the back of the cave, in the shadows. It seemed to stare at him from a single red light, slowly winking at him like a malevolent eye. He stared back, chin cupped in one hand, sucking the bloody knuckles of his other hand. Maybe not so much malevolent. More…disinterested. Lex huffed, closed his eyes and concentrated. When he opened them again, he had a migraine sized headache, the taste of some alien delicacy in his mouth that his tongue was frantically trying to get away from, and the knowledge he needed to operate the suit. More importantly, he knew how to cannibalize the technology the suit contained, and how to use what was left of the probe Kal had discovered in his first few days on Earth. He walked out of the cave, and turned towards the plant. The time was now. Everything was about to change—there was a light in the tunnel all right and it was the fucking Lex Express. He chuckled, gagged a bit on the phantom taste of something for God's sake not at all reminiscent of chicken.

~o0o~

On one hand, Smallville became prosperous with the quick growth of the plant, more prosperous than the town folk could ever have dreamed. On the other hand, the old citizens of Smallville were confused by the new people that shared their town with them, folks who by-passed the Beanery to drink coffee at a dozen different overpriced shops and sneered when their Hummers cut off their dusty farm trucks, their trusty Oldsmobiles….

In leaps and bounds Smallville grew, from a stagnant town whose citizens barely avoided falling off the narrow ledge that separated them from have and have not it blossomed into a bustling, crowded, almost city with a multiplex theater where once a windmill stood but it was okay, the two story tall neon sign that advertised the nearby mall featured a stylized windmill. All around the paean to modern architecture little farms lay, struggling still, while the rest of Smallville took lunch. 'Of course change was painful,' their mayor told them. 'growth involved growing pains, after all.' And if the mall took business from the local department store, well it *was* barely two steps above a five and dime, and the forty-five minute drive to the formally nearest mall wasn't necessary any more—not with a two-story super mall hosting stores that sold name brand products the townspeople had never heard of but Lex's closets were stuffed with…

The Kents hadn’t seen their nephew in months. Pamela barely heard from her charge. Weeks turned to months and soon, to years. Christmas after Christmas rolled past and Pamela was a frequent visitor to the farm but she came alone and on Christmas Eve, they opened boxes sent by the person who figured so large in their lives by his absence. This particular Christmas was exceptional—this Christmas they watched Presidential hopeful Alexander Luthor on their TV screen. He made a dashing figure, this bachelor candidate--smiling, waving into the camera, someone primped and beautiful and popular hanging off his arm. He was seen frequently enough with women to excite an amused and fond sort of envy, but not so often to make him seem…a slut. 

His abandoned family watched him silently. Their Alexander, with a smile that was wide and white and eyes that were grey and dead. 

The camera followed him now at one of the dozens of charity events that Lex frequently attended. He supported so many charitable organizations—organizations dedicated to helping children, the homeless, women's issues, people who'd been forced out of jobs, out of their communities, forced to try and keep up with all the changes that rained down on them what seemed like daily. The swift survived and adapted, and the photogenic were seen with their playboy Senator.

"Still strange that he's running for president," Pamela said after a sip of her cocoa. It was a habit she indulged frequently since her forced retirement. A little whipped cream and a splash of Baileys helped to make it even more palatable. They were in the living room, a huge tree twinkling in the background, expertly, professionally wrapped gifts piled at its base. They sat on the same furniture that had been in the Kent family since Lex was a boy; they watched a television that had been new when Clinton was in office…a huge plasma screen TV sat in the box in the barn.

"Never mentioned wanting it once when he was a boy," Jonathan said. They stared in silence for a bit.

"How are you dealing with that virus affecting the cows? Vet come up with anything yet?" Pamela asked, and took a cookie from the fragrant plate full on the coffee table. 

"Ah. Yeah. Actually, Lex sent someone. Worked out good. Don’t know how he knew. Martha called to thank him." He took a gulp of cooling coffee and watched the cameras track Lex through a crowd of celebrities, who all seemed to know him personally.

Martha stirred another spoonful of Kent Farms honey into her tea. "His secretary was very nice, promised to tell Lex I'd called."

Pamela put her cup down. "He's a fame-obsessed bastard who only cares about himself, never calls anymore, forced me out of my own company, won’t talk to the only other people on this planet who love him, and pretty much destroyed this town…"

Jonathan sighed. "He's all about money, and making it in amounts that are just obscene and trotting all around Metropolis and New York and what not with women that are a bare step up from hookers."

"When Kal left, he didn’t break Lex's heart, he took his soul." Martha wiped at a tear rolling down the curve of her cheek.

"I can't believe I'd ever say this about him—but it looks like the apple didn’t fall far from the tree after all." Jonathan looked stern, his lips pressed into a bitter, thin line. Didn’t stop them from trembling.

Pamela glared at Jonathan, but before she could speak, Martha said, "He told me once that no matter what he might seem to be to never forget that he loves us." 

"Look at that pile of---*shit* under the tree," Jonathan snapped. "What are those? Bribes? They're not gifts, Martha. Doesn't look like love to me. Looks like he's got a busy god-damn secretary."

"Aides," Pamela burped gently. "They're called personal aides…" She stared blearily at the set.

~o0o~

 _While the world watched, Alexander Luthor was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, the richest country in the world, the leader in technological innovation, the leader in space exploration, now had a leader who perfectly fit the climate and the nature of the country._

_Many reliable hands took up the reins of Lex's companies…the key word here was marionette, and one could also say ventriloquist, and also, assassin, spy…LexCorp steamed forward like a velvet covered juggernaught, gifting the world amazing invention after invention, most designed to make the public's life comfortable, soothing—a cradle to grave sort of thing, with minimum rocking of any sort. Behind the scenes, vast projects moved, known only to Lex himself—project Cadmus, project Nautilus, project Excelsior, dozens of different projects that only he knew in what way they fit together._

_The only thing left to do was wait._


	23. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, A Wind In The Sails

There were a dozen reasons why Daxama evenings were different from Krypton. A sun no more familiar to him then the one that had lit the Earth dropped to the horizon, turning the sky purple. Like clockwork, the nightly chorus of native birds began—shrieks rang out, blood-curdling screams of the damned that shredded the night sky. Kal shivered. 'All creatures Rao created and loved them, great or small' be damned--there was something wrong with a creature who screamed like it was dying and smelled worse than dead. As always, Kal grit his teeth and stared into the sun until it set, waiting for the birds to fall silent again.

Behind him, he heard a foot step in the soft dust. A familiar weight warmed his shoulder.

"The birds of Daxama leave a lot to be desired," Jor-El sighed. "So many changes, Kal, so many changes. So much to get used to." His hand tightened slightly. He let go and came around to stand in front of Kal. "Can I sit here too?"

Kal moved over to make room for Jor-El on the bench he sat on. They faced a stone garden. Pink pebbles were arranged in patterns in the red dust. Jor took Kal's hand and said, "Son, I—we—can not begin to imagine how you must have suffered, but any time you wish to talk about it, you know that we're here, ready to listen. And remember, Rao knows your mind, and Rao listens always. He knows your pain and carries it with you."

"Does he?" Kal was silent for a long moment before he said, "The sun was yellow. Have you been under a yellow sun before? It fills you up, makes you feel invincible—does in fact make you invincible. There's a drink there, a wonderful marvelous drink they call Coffee…they call their planet Earth. Silly, isn’t it? They're selfish and giving and petty and generous beyond fault. They hurt each other terribly, suffer and bleed…but they want so much more, Dad. They really want to be better…" Kal wiped at his cheek and said. "One thing I've learned--if Rao has a plan, it's unknowable to me. I'm beginning to think he has a Morne sense of humor."

"Birdie—"

"I've been thinking about my future, Father. I've decided on a career in Justice." He stood and turned to Jor-El. "Could you let Grand-dad know?"

_Joe-El and Lara stood in the dark of the hallway, not needing to lean against Kal's door to hear him crying. It hurt them like being stabbed—the sound of their child in pain. Tears welled up in their own eyes. It was such a broken sound, the cries of a child lost in the wild._

~o0o~

A red sun tinted the sky salmon and pink, threw bloody shadows over the distant mountains. Clouds hung low over a sea of mud broken by an occasional outcropping of rock. A steady lukewarm drizzle sank into the mud. In the month that Kal had been at Paradise Base, there had been not a single day that it hadn't rained. Or actually, drizzled. It was the kind of precipitation that seemed to constantly be on the brink of becoming actual rain. It was weather designed to make a person go slowly insane, nature's water torture.

Fortunately for the troops, there was a wealth of activities to keep from doing that—there was 'carry a thousand pound pack through streams of mud, bordered by banks of mud'. There was 'climb a wall balanced on a rock sunk into a field of mud'. There was the ever popular 'slog buckets of mud around and pretend to build a camp', and 'dodge the painful but supposedly non-lethal practice rounds fired by the opposite team and also hide in the mud'. The trainees spent vast amounts of the brainpower not allocated to learning how to kill the enemy in ignoring the omnipresent mud, in teeth and boots and cot and food…Kal was developing a hatred of mud that bordered on the transcendent. 

Not to be out done by Mud, there was Mold. Mold grew on everything. Everywhere. Constantly. The war against mold was as intense as Kal's training to war against the universe. Plucky soldiers clutched their weapons: a tiny brush and a bleach based cleaner and unleashed Hell daily. That it was probably a losing battle remained unspoken. Hope was a fragile reed, and no one wanted to be the one to break it.

Kal struggled to become the best at that activity, the best at *all* activity. He was the best at wall climbing and rope climbing, hand to hand combat and disguising himself as an outcropping of rock and raining doom on his enemies. He knew how to kill a man with a sharpish piece of stale pastry and some string, and how to make a decent soup out of e-rations. He did this because he had to. He knew there was only one way to regain meaning in his life and if it meant standing in cold mud and feeling his orbs try to creep up under his chin, than so be it. He'd take everything the phracking Justice shelled out and more. He'd claw his way up in ranks until he got to where he needed to be. And then, he'd jump in and out of that gods damned mother-phracking time well until he found—

"Recruit Twelve! Dreaming on our feet, are we? Wakey-wakey! Ya know, I'm thinking my boots here need polishing--again. Now!"

"Yes sir!" Kal barked, and seething, reached for the useless boot kit in his pack.

"Ah-ah-ah, Recruit. I'm not seeing that sunny smile of yer's. Let's look happy--and step it up. Matter of fact, why don't we just take care of all of us, hmm?" The rest of the trainees waved their thickly coated boots at him and grinned.

Kal smiled, barked "yes sir!" and bitterly wished for an explosive…anything. Preferably something long and pointed and thick, and a hammer…Kal eyed the sergeant wistfully when he bent to remove his boots and wished harder.

Eventually, his day came. He surpassed all expectations, graduated at the top of his class. His excellence was noted and with a little gentle nudging from Grand-dad Van, plans made for him that if Kal knew, he'd more than agree with. 

Graduation day, and Grand-dad arrived to bring him home for a bit before being assigned to his post at the Palace as a member of Cousin's Inner Guard. It was the first anyone knew of his relationship to the throne. Kal enjoyed the sight of his sergeant going the color of stale cheese and he felt a fierce, angry sort of pride that he'd survived this hell strictly on his own merit, no quarter asked and sure as Hells no quarter given.

The waiting was almost over….

~o0o~

"He was supposed to take my place in the House of Science," Jor-El mourned, as he and Lara watched Kal go through exercises in the garden. 

"My baby, my dear, sweet boy…what did they do to you?" She turned from watching Kal decapitate invisible enemies with the garden rake and to Jor, said viciously, "Never have I wished a planet pain the way I wish it on Soil--Dirt—however it's called. I hope they make it into one single Hell from pole to pole for whatever horrors they inflicted on our son. Can you not tell that great moron of a cousin you have to push up the schedule of the annexation of Dirt?"

Jor watched Kal work himself into a sweat as he did every day—he'd work until muscles quivered and twitched from painful exhaustion. "You know Shnoogie doesn't take advice from me," he muttered. Through the glass, he watched Kal slump to a crouch, and push a concerned Rwrzft away. He rose and gracefully avoided one of the small garden pets where once, he would surely have connected with the pet in a humorous and painful way. He negotiated the rock garden as if he were winged. Gone was any vestige of the slightly clumsy, earnest boy they'd sent out to conquer the world. They'd gotten back a stern, humorless warrior, bent on conquering worlds.

On the eve of Kal-El becoming a finger on the great hand of Justice, Grand-dad Lor-Van passed away, happy in the knowledge that his grandson would continue in service to The Emperor and Light of Many Worlds. He died holding Lara's hand, smiling up at the great God Rao, content to shuffle off the mortal coil. The Emperor was there at his bed-side, devastated at the loss of his long time Hand of Justice. "You, Kal-El, you must take up the mantle your grandfather has dropped," he said, and dabbed at his eyes.

"Whu—me?" Kal-El blinked hard, several times. Again, his words were less than memorable but Those Who Write The History would correct that oversight in days to come, so it was a small thing. "Bee-hunh…me? Hammer?" would no doubt become "You honor me deeply, your majesty. I vow to search out worthy new worlds to bring under your wise and benevolent rule." Something along those lines.

Immediately after Grand-dad's funeral, attended by the most mighty and the powerful in the Dominion, Kal-El of the House of El and son of Jor-El, Master of the House of Science and now the Hand of the Hammer of Justice, swore fealty to the Emperor, swore to protect and to serve him as long as he drew breath. Kal smiled at that line. He then had to sit through many, many long, long, and it cannot be stressed enough, long speeches from various members and representatives of the Worlds and try to look at least somewhat interested. Meanwhile in his head the phrase "Hand of The Hammer of Justice" rang in his head. He was the Hand, in fact, the fate of the galaxy rested in his hand. He looked down at his hand and snickered a bit. He knew where that hand had been....

Kal spent some time acquainting himself with his new duties, and found when it all boiled down, the job was simple--spank whoever misbehaved, give candy after to make it all better. When the occasional pep-talk was needed, a few World Destroyer class vessels suddenly appearing in one's atmosphere tended to be just the incentive needed to foster good behavior. Even better, he found that when he cocked his head a certain way and creased his eyebrows, people fell all over themselves to offer him whatever he needed. After enough time had passed and he was confident in his abilities to do the job, and confident in his men's loyalties, he decided the time to pull the various strings in his plan together was now.

The next day, with the help of Justice officers loyal to him, he overthrew the Emperor. It was a quick, sharp, painful overthrow.

Shnoogie lay in a pool of blood, eyes wide with disbelief and pain, and gasping for his last breath, wasted it by asking…"Why? Why, cousin? We searched for you, to return you to home…why…"

Kal-El's bright sunny smile twisted into a snarl was the last thing he saw, his voice the last he heard—"Because. You took me away from him."

_No time left to even ask who 'he' was…._

He strode out of the throne room, over the cooling body of his cousin, the soldiers loyal to him crowding at his heels. That left the throne room effectively empty except for a handmaiden or two, and the men who push the brooms.

They stood off to one side in a dark alcove, and looked at the corpse blocking the tiles on the east side of the room.

"Phrackin' quall. Going to need a mop for that," one said and lit a cigarette. After all, it wasn't as if anyone was there to tell him not to...

"More than one, looks like." He held out his hand until he was reluctantly given a cigarette too.

"Who'd have thought…young Kal-El. Always thought that boy was thick as a brick. Do you mind? Non-smoker here." The oldest of them quavered and waved a shaky liver spotted hand. He'd quit just the other day as his doctor told him if he wanted to live to see his one hundredth and twentieth birth celebration, he really should.

"Yu-hunh. Slept with a friend of my cousin. Or maybe it was my cousin. Anymore cigs?"

"No. And I doubt *your* cousin slept with him. Her lacking that all important element and ugly as a foot besides."

"Not *that* cousin, the other one. The one that doesn't look like a foot." He pointed to the youngest of them. "Get mops."

"Hunh. Well. Thick or not, I guess it's all hail Kal-El, Hammer of Justice, Supreme blah-blah-blah now, eh?" He shifted the broom from one hand to the other, and waited as the youngest one went to get the mops from the mop closet in the hall.

"There'll be hell now, for a bit. Remember when we tried to take Morne? Nasty. Huge hairy smart-assess…"

"Remind me to ask my cousin how it was."

"What, the Mornes?"

"No! His Majesty, Kal. He slept with my cousin?"

"Riii-ght. You said that. Well, here come the mops…oh, good Rao, he's going to trip over—"

"Young idiot."

~o0o~

Kal-El was now His Majesty Kal-El the first, by the Grace of Rao, Ruler of Krypton and of the Dominion, Supreme Commander and Hammer of justice, Right Hand of Rao. He examined his outfit critically in the mirrored wall in his new quarters. His now long hair fanned over his shoulders and was barely visible against the traditional cape he wore, so deep a red it was almost black. The soft lights of the royal apartment reflected from the highly polished ceremonial breastplate, made of blue metal mined in the Howling Mountains. It was stamped with the ancient seal of the ruling House of El but done in the colors the new Emperor insisted on—the bright yellow of an alien sun and the red of Krypton's. His parents had refused to attend his coronation, but he forgave them. They had no idea. They didn't know that the wait was almost over. He was so close to victory, so close that he finally allowed himself to say the name. He allowed himself to think it, to say it aloud.

"Lex. Lex. LexLexLex…"

An erection behind the apparently cast iron underwear he was forced to wear on the outside of the stupid ceremonial get up really *hurt*.


	24. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, Port Of Call

The president of the United States sat quietly in the overstuffed leather chair behind the massive antique desk in the Oval Office, coffee at hand, reading reports designed to catch him up on what had happened in the world while he slept. He skimmed through newspapers of every major country, met with his staff and discussed the business of the country. After that, he took a few minutes to go over the daily reports from Smallville concerning the farm and the castle. The castle's majordomo reported that Pamela was doing well in her new business and seemed successfully distracted from the path of incipient alcoholism. Lex had seriously considered this step—after all, it was her choice to drink and drink to excess, did he have a right to interfere? The answer he decided was yes. So, he made it not happen. 

In a like way, he made widespread unemployment not happen. Every able body who could work did—those massive space going battle cruisers weren't going to build themselves. Mysterious shiploads of parts and pieces left the ground daily, to become, out of sight of everyone not privileged to know, ships and battle platforms modeled after an interesting society called The Morne. 

The sight of transports winging their way through the heavens was not in the least remarkable anymore. People watched the construction of the Space Elevator as avidly as they watched the latest soap opera. Everyone dreamed of a vacation spent on the moon, or farther out. Space exploration wasn't a dream anymore; it was one of Lex's many gifts to the people of Earth. With it, every day his real goal came closer and closer. 

President Luthor drank his coffee and read his paper and was content. He put his cup down and smiled. Coffee…coffee. For years now, he's drunk his coffee without thought, swilled down a dozen different brands without the slightest interest beyond 'hot' and 'caffeine', but now…now was different. 

He went to the center one of the windows behind his desk and eased back the velvet drapes, recently installed and still smelling of newness. They were velvety soft to the touch, a deep blood red that appealed to him. He unconsciously stroked the material and watched the sun rise, the clouds lift and drift away…and let himself fully experience the memory of Kal enjoying a cup of coffee. For a moment his eyes pricked. He sniffed deeply, letting the scent memory carry him away. Kal, his green eyes, red, red mouth, laughing, calling his name, so excited about—everything.

He snarled impatiently when the talking heads on the screens of the monitors he'd had installed in the Office broke into his reverie— until he heard the distinct note of barely controlled panic in their voices. Lex turned to the sets just in time to see the images melt away to become a huge garish symbol—a bright red stylized **S** on a shield of yellow. A voice bellowed in Kryptonese, "WE ARE HERE…"

For a moment Lex was simply appalled at the painful choice of colors, and deeply confused. _Well that's just wrong—the House of El's colors are black and red_ …his heart hammered wildly in his chest for a moment, as it did whenever he knew something he couldn't. He staggered as a cascade of images almost sent him to his knees. The weight of managing an unimaginable amount of memories not his own could be difficult sometimes, it gave rise to some truly odd visual, and on occasion auditory, hallucinations. He had no idea how the Kryps lived with it…he blinked hard and waited for the visions to disappear. After a moment, his head cleared, and Lex sighed in relief. _Not completely crazy—not yet_.' 

The voice was gone and the symbol of the Els once again replaced by panicking newscasters. Lex blinked and found that he was on his knees, with an ice-pick drilling into the bridge of his nose or so it felt…he fumbled his phone from his pocket and hit a button. 

"Take me to the port, now."

He rose, wiped cold sweat from his forehead and smoothed his lapels. He opened his briefcase and from a locked drawer in the massive old desk, he tossed essential items into it, pressed the button in the top of the case that alerted all of his most capable staff that the time was now…

It seemed only minutes passed before Lex's shuttle was hurled into space, to be snatched up by his waiting flagship.

Behind the moon, unknown to nearly everyone working on the President's projects but a very, very special few privileged to retain the real memories of what they did, squatted a pair of ships bristling with weapons and detectors of all sorts. The first was the Excelsior, and behind her was a monstrously huge black ship that looked fast even hovering silently in place over the pocked face of the moon. The ship, Cadmus, waited for directions from Excelsior, waited to sow the thousand fighters in her hold.

On board the Excelsior, Lex alerted Project Nautilus. At the command from Excelsior, hundreds and hundreds of fighters would rise up from where they lay in wait on the ocean floor. Within hours, Lex was going to change the world forever.

~o0o~

Lex stood with his staff on the bridge of the Excelsior. Through its viewscreens, the black and red bulk of Cadmus was plainly visible. At a signal from his aide, he assumed a look of benevolence, offset with a hint of the mildly stern, and began to speak. On every channel everywhere, the calm, smooth face of the former President of the United States looked out. From hundreds of thousands of speakers flowed his voice, instantly translated into the language of whatever country it broadcast in. 

"Good evening, Citizens of Earth. The time has come for change on a planet-wide level. You'll be happy to know that I've decided to assume the mantle of…well, I'm not sure what you'd call it…President of the Earth? Supreme Commander? That has an unpleasantly militaristic ring to it, though it is more or less accurate. At the present time, I control all of the world's military capability. I see no reason why that might change in the foreseeable future." He leaned his elbows on the big glass desk, moved slightly so the country could see the holographic fireplace in the simulated background depicting his LexCorp office, holographic logs merrily crackling and burning away. He suppressed the urge to giggle when he saw his 'office' on the monitor above the camera. Taking a breath, he assumed an expression of deep concern, steepled his fingers and continued. "I do this to protect us from the invaders that have entered our space. I believe I am uniquely qualified to lead you into the new century, the century of miracles. I understand the threat we face, understand it in a way no other man can. There will be trouble before we enter the millennia, however. Terrible enemies threaten us and we must defend ourselves to the fullest extent, but I'm confident that most of you will survive." The lights died, the broadcast was over. He turned to his aide. "How was that?"

"Um. Not as positive as it could have sounded—you really should have kept to the script. How about we try not mentioning anything about survival rate next time?"

"Damn. I knew I shouldn't have mentioned that but it just came out—and it is the truth. We've run a million different simulations and come up with the same result each time—an enormous loss of life. I know what drives these Kryptonians, I know their modus operandi. Destruction and mayhem until the targets give up to save their planet. But at least knowing that, we're prepared---we'll turn their own weapons on them." He turned to his communications specialist. 

"Send them a message, tell them the Supreme Ruler of The Earth will be happy to meet with his Kryptonian equivalent." He looked fiercely into the dark of space. "First, I'll make them give me back what they stole from me and then, I'll reduce them to atoms and take everything else they have…" 

The aide took a subtle step or two away from his boss. "Yes sir. If there's noting else, I'll prepare the next speech?"

Lex dismissed his aide, who gratefully left the bridge, and once outside in the corridor, took a deep breath. Another of Lex's staff came up to stand by his side. "So, how's his majesty this morning? Still hot…and crazy as a loon?" He handed the aide a sealed, sippy cup type of affair filled with coffee, glanced around quickly and leaned close to steal a kiss.

"Mmm, thanks. He's about to take over the world." He took a sip of coffee. 

"Ah—ha. Really. No…really?" 

The aide looked scathingly at his opposite. "What the hell did you think this was all about?"

"He's fucking scary," the other aide shook his head. "Not to mention, has great big brass ones."

"I swear I hear them clanging in my sleep. Oh well. Help me with this next speech?"

"Sure, if by help you mean sex in your cabin."

"You should've been a cryptographer…"

~o0o~

 **The Curtain Falls**

The Supreme Ruler of the World was playing Solitaire on his laptop and idly watching the reaction to his speech. All over the world, people screamed and ranted and vowed bitter resistance and by various deity, even death!--before kneeling to the tyrant. 

"Ah well, one way or another," Lex mused. "No one knows better than I do, change never happens painlessly." He smiled, thinking about the powers of the world trying to use their instruments of death that had lately become for all practical purposes, paperweights…

The ranting and raving suddenly quieted, the images on the screens ran like melted taffy, grew darker and vanished all together. Lex gaped at the screens—that shouldn't have happened—his ship's communications were designed to block any type of interference. The screens burped and the image of the House of El with its colors all wrong appeared, became the image of a bearded giant wearing the god-awful colors on his person. He was dressed in the ceremonial garb of the emperor…sort of. The cape and boots weren't trimmed with fur and the yellow-red-blue color scheme replaced the red, blue and black. Wild long twists of black hair flowed out from under what looked like a winged helmet instead of the crown the emperors traditionally wore. He was a parody of a space-opera villain—all he needed to complete the picture was a naked person on a chain. Visible in the background was what Lex assumed was the invader's throne room, and of course it looked like some Victorian idea of a Sheik's palace—yards and yards of velvet and satin draped over marble arches, framing a towering stone throne at the top of a wide set of stairs. Huge flaming torches cast shadows across a glittering gem crusted ceiling. 'Hmm…that seems…dangerous as well as tacky," Lex mused, before being distracted by something else on the screens. In the shadows around the throne, what looked like leopards lounged, flicking their tails…one rolled to its side, waved a perfectly human shaped hand and grinned. 

Lex stared and stared. There was nothing in his memory of things Kryptonian that explained the overwrought background. It was a cheesy imitation of a Frazetta painting come to life. Lex began to smile.

Perfect.

"I have come to introduce you to a new life as citizens of the Dominion of Worlds. Rejoice. You'll learn soon what contributions you can make to this new society. In a few…minutes, I will enter your atmosphere and a new era of unimaginable prosperity and peace will begin. And now, as tradition demands, I wish to meet with the leaders of your world." 

The image faded and then, returned. "Oh—and Coffee. There should be large amounts of coffee available whenever I desire it. Thank you. I mean--prepare it now, your new Emperor demands it!"

The bridge of the Excelsior rang with The Supreme Ruler's laughter.


	25. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, Journey's End

The call went out again—the Emperor gave the Earth an hour to send its leaders to meet with their new master. At a signal from Lex, his armada de-cloaked and sat insolently in space. Lex sent the Kryptonian contingent a message. 

Cool, collected, dressed in a white suit and a smile, he sent a reply. "Hello there. I am the Supreme Ruler of the Earth, but you can call me Mr. Luthor."

The Emperor responded, "At last." The screens went black.

Lex turned to his staff. "You, you and you, stand right there." He pointed to a space on the deck not far from where he stood. He retrieved his briefcase from the glass desk, the only real item in his 'office'. He took a small lead box out of it, pocketed it. "In a moment, we'll seem to evaporate," he told the rest of his people. "Do nothing until you hear from me, understand?" Almost before he stopped speaking, he felt like he was being pummeled all over by mink mittens. It might have been a mildly pleasant sensation if he didn’t also feel that way from the inside as well.

They reappeared on the Emperor's flagship, and before they could gather themselves, they were surrounded by an armed escort of many different species. Lex's staff were paralyzed with shock. They stared about them, wide-eyed, frightened…Lex, on the other hand, was almost pathetically grateful to see the weird, wild collection of shapes and forms and colors. Thank god, it was all true, all of it. He'd been fairly certain that he wasn't but it was a distinct relief to have proof of his sanity that he could see, smell, touch…a furry, vaguely catlike creature winked at him. 

"Morne," Lex whispered, wonder nearly stealing his voice. The creature bristled. "Am not! Not stub-tailed, mangy Morne. I am a Kryptonian," it said, its voice full of pride and not a little wonder. "The new Emperor says it and that makes it so." 

Lex looked around, searching for the Emperor, his heart slamming in his chest, waiting for sight of the new Ruler of Krypton on Daxam and the Known Worlds…what the hell? The 'throne room' was a bare metal cavern of a space. It looked like a hanger, nothing but a little platform and a rather large chair in it. Where were the arches, the dais, the flaming torches…Lex fought the urge to giggle. That urge evaporated when the Emperor entered the room. 

"So. We meet at last, Supreme Ruler of Earth."

"We do, Majesty Kal-El the—the—first, by the Grace of Rao, Ruler of Krypton and of the Dominion, Supreme Commander and Hammer of justice and Right Hand of Rao. Prepare to surrender yourself."

The Emperor tilted his head and looked befuddled in a way that warmed Lex's long frozen heart. "What?"

Lex held the small box from his briefcase in his hand. "This small lead lined casket contains refined kryptonite. Simply put—it's Hammer Time."

The men behind The Emperor gasped—the man had the audacity to name a weapon after the Beloved Lost Home World? But wait--how did he even *know* this? These primitives weren't supposed to have any knowledge of the Home World—let alone have the level of technology they possessed. Something was *very* wrong here....

The Kryptonians felt the strangest sensation of a tightening around their necks….

"Deadly Kryptonite, eh? In that case," His Majesty Kal-El the first, by the Grace of Rao, Ruler of Krypton and of the Dominion, Supreme Commander and Hammer of justice, Right Hand of Rao who rules from New Kryptonopolis on Daxam said, removing the ceremonial sword at his waist, and laying it still sheathed at the SROE's feet, "I surrender." He knelt and inclined his head. And also inched closer, until his nose was nearly bumping the crisp white linen of Lex's suit.

The bridge erupted into howls of outrage at the sight. No Kryptonian bent the knee to any species, ever. It was an outrage, a travesty…the kneeling Emperor turned. Laying a huge hand on the enemy's thigh to steady himself, he fixed his soldiers with a glowing red stare. "Don't make me come over there," he said, in a deceptively mild tone.

"Oh God," Lex groaned, shuddered and grabbed a handful of the thick black hair. He jerked Kal's head back. "Get up before I embarrass myself in front of an audience. There'll be plenty of time for you to be on your knees later." His grip gentled, he stroked lightly over Kal's chin before releasing him. He peered into green eyes and said quietly, "Thanks for coming back to me, lover."

Kal grinned. "I couldn't wait for you—I had to come. I would have come in at an earlier time, but I figured you needed extra time to get your fleet together." Kal grinned. "Why waste all this, right?"

Lex laughed. "You grew ambition—and a beard. Which god-awful thing you'll be getting rid of first chance."

Kal pouted, his lips looked even redder framed by the black curls but Lex stood firm." Oh, come on, Lex—it took me a long time to get it this nice."

"No kisses."

"Oh gosh, all right." The Supreme's prisoner of war pouted even harder. 

Supreme took pity on him and leaned closer, whispered in the prisoner's ear. "Later after I shave you, I'm going to fuck you so hard…"

 

_The curtain drops, we fade to a crackling log in the fireplace, and there we fade to black…or that's what would happen if this were anyone else's story but it's not…._

 

On to Chapter the Last, The Conclusion, in which We return to the Porn....


	26. A Young Kryptonian's Travels Or, Our Tale Is Complete

Lex yanked the ridiculous cape off first and threw it, and Kal ripped the back of Lex's snowy white jacket up the middle, popped all the buttons and threw the halves to the floor. Lex ripped the top of Kal's silly costume up and off and groaned at the sight of the tanned flesh, his hard, rosy nipples. "Oh Kal, as perfect as I remember…"

Kal's eyes dropped, he blushed and smiled shyly—and ripped through Lex's shirt like it was wet Kleenex, spread his hands over Lex's chest. Lex groaned at the heat of Kal's palms, shivering under the spike of lust it sent right to his dick. "Kal…Kal…" His beautiful Kal, back again, just as wonderful, fuzzier, but otherwise, just the same as he'd remembered…or was he? There was something…something… _eeep!_

Kal chuckled, tweaked his nipples again, and leaned over to nibble on his neck. He breathed hot against Lex skin. "Did you think of this? Years I've been thinking of you, years, wanting to touch you, taste you, waiting to feel your penis in me—my—oh phraack." He ground against Lex and moaned as he rode out a wave of orgasm so intense Lex felt it too, felt Kal's dick throbbing against his belly, so hard layers of cloth couldn't hide it—he shoved his hand between Kal's thighs and squeezed, feeling the growing heat centered there.

"Ick," Kal mumbled, "The inside of this thing is like a sauna. A sticky, wet sauna now…"

"No problem," the SROE replied. He dropped to his knees and skimmed off the bottom of the eyesore formally a ceremonial garb, now just a pair of sticky wet tights. "I can fix this too," he said, and sucked and licked come from Kal's skin and slowly softening dick. He ran fingertips over his tense ass, drifting closer and closer to center with every stroke, and not letting up on Kal's dick at all. 

"Gah, Lex, Lex…" Kal was hardening again, and Lex smiled. That was sweet. "Lex, you're making me so wet—" Kal shivered and Lex's finger slid right inside of him. "Lex, I need you to fuck me…please, fuck me."

Kal's voice begging to be fucked undid him. Waves and waves of hot, bubbly fire swept him from the tips of his toes to the top of his head, words flew out of his mouth that had no real meaning but boiled down to this—"What a pleasure it is to have an orgasm in the company of the one I love."—only with a lot more 'Gah' and 'Fuck' and 'Aaaarg' added. 

Waiting years to have sex guaranteed the first time would be a little uncoordinated. 

They'd managed to remove the tattered remains of their clothing, and make it to the bed, which was pretty utilitarian, Lex thought, considering he was bedding the Emperor of Blah, Blah and Blah. "I see your throne room was as real as my office but why? You rule everything—why not a real throne room?"

"First, that was an incredibly hideous room, goodness, and not something I'd choose myself at all. It's just a stage set designed to inspire the maximum amount of awe in the soon to be conquered. Though personally I think it inspires horror and fear of being absorbed by the terminally tasteless—but that's just me... I mean, how would it look for the Emperor to stand on an empty deck? Lacking a little something, am I right?" He nosed around Lex's navel, flicking his tongue in and out of the little well. Lex sighed and urged him a little lower. "So, it's holographic because it's just a waste of energy to drag all that stuff around." He sniffed deeply when he trailed down to the creamy smooth base of Lex's dick and sucked a little bouquet of roses there. Lex trembled and gasped. 

"Ah, your tongue is so hot…I knew I remembered all of it right." 

Kal laughed and licked broad rough stripes around Lex's stiff, bobbing dick. He slipped the tip of his tongue into the dripping slit and sucked gently. "Mmm. You taste so good--I never forgot your taste."

Lex watched Kal enjoy himself, snuffling and humming happily around his dick, and had to admit, the beard did something for him, the almost rasp of crisp hair against his tender skin was…interesting. He was beginning to drift delightfully on a cloud of pleasure when the thought that had intruded earlier came back, pawing at the edge of his mind and gnawing at what should be his steadily growing pre-orgasmic glow like an ill-behaved puppy…"I wonder…I wonder about you…in fact, I have a major wonder…" Lex grabbed handfuls of hair and yanked Kal's head up. He twinkled at Lex, and Lex wondered how someone whose mouth was red and swollen and wet with saliva could look like so innocent a boy? He shuddered and stored that thought away for a far, far future day—one in which maybe he wouldn't feel quite so perverted for thinking that…"How? I mean, if the information the interface implanted in my mind was correct, then no way were you in succession for the throne. There were at least a good half dozen Els in line who should rule in event of the death of the former emperor. How is it you're Krypton's emperor?"

Kal dropped his head. He traced sulking circles around the base of Lex's dick, and pouted just a bit. "I killed him," he mumbled and Lex felt very much like he'd been doused with ice-cold water. 

"You WHAT?" His innocent little boy murdered someone? Not that Lex hadn't been prepared to do the same if necessary, but that was him—Kal was different. He was lovely and sweet and loving and full of love and…and apparently under it all, just as obsessive as he was. 

"That man was in the way of what I needed to do. He took me from you," he said simply, as though that explained everything.

Lex swallowed hard. "But, but—my God, did you kill them *all*?"

Kal looked positively shocked and not a little outraged. "Oh Rao's sake—no! No Lex, I didn't hurt them, there was no need to. After I made the point of how serious I was with Uncle Shnoogie, the rest was easy. I explained to the other El cousins that they had a choice, to test out various versions of Hell forever, or step aside from the throne. I didn’t want to kill them—besides, I thought I might need one of them to take the throne back. In case…you didn’t want me anymore, or you didn't want this," he made a gesture encompassing the room and by implication, Known Space. "Do you? Want this? You and I, we can make it better for everyone."

Lex looked away from Kal and turned his focus inward, let memories he'd been given by the interface fill his mind. "Well…yes…yes actually. As long as you're by my side."

"There is no place else I'd rather be, my husband. Except under you right now, screaming my brains out."

Lex smirked. "I think I can help you with that." He pulled Kal up and over his lap, grinned when their dicks crossed like swords….

"Umm. And I want to visit your family too, I miss them so much and we can introduce them to my family, my mother will *love* your aunt, and maybe visit my friends and then have lots and lots of coffee…oh! Yes…yes…" 

Lex slid fingers inside his husband, twisting, stroking, crooking them to hear Kal groan. His tongue swirled in the warm shell of his ear. "We can do that…" he spread his fingers wider, pushed them in and out and closed his eyes to better feel it—the smooth glide inside, the warm wet passage gripping him a little as he moved his fingers faster...so different than anything else he'd ever experienced. He pushed a little farther in, searching, searching for that odd magic spot—Kal moaned and his dick practically vibrated against Lex's belly. The swollen ring inside Kal gripped him and Lex groaned quietly, felt a gush of wet run down his fingers, ooze down his wrist. 

Kal moaned. "So embarrassing…"

"Shh. I like it. It makes me hot." He rotated his fingers and slid them out, and Kal lifted, waited as Lex lined up with his quivering hole. 

"Lex. Please do not tease…please don't make me wait much longer or by Rao's plentiful staff, I *will* bite you." 

Lex snorted—gasped when Kal dropped down without stopping. "Shit—Kal!" the feeling was overwhelming. His whole body flushed with the pleasure.

"Now? Can I move now?"

"Ohhh please do." Lex moaned. He held Kal, knowing he didn’t really need his support but enjoying the feel of his hot skin under his hands, the tickle of Kal's body hair against his palms, the little beads of sweat that rolled and pooled in crevices here and there. Lex pressed his tongue against Kal's chest and lapped the salty sweet drops away.

"You like to taste me; I like to taste you…" Kal purred. He used one hand to work his dick, the other cupped Lex's shoulder, fingers gripping and relaxing as he rode him and Lex watched fascinated as a translucent flow dripped steadily from Kal's dick to lace itself across his belly, between the two of them—he felt Kal's tremble work its way down and around and into his own dick. 

"I think I might be coming in a moment," Kal gasped. His lips were wet and red, his eyelids low, and black lashes fluttered on cheekbones gone rosy and damp with desire. He was so beautiful it was ridiculous, Lex thought. Really, Mother Nature had gone into overkill with Kal-El. Kal dropped his head back and moaned and Lex felt his dick flex, felt desire roll and pop inside of him.

"Oh yeah, that works brilliantly for me, god, yes come, come all over me." 

Kal gasped and moved faster lifting, dropping on him, squeezing him--Lex let Kal do all the work, and content himself with watching, and at the first thick hot stripe, he screamed and came with Kal. One part of his mind was horrified—he was screaming for god's sake like he was fifteen and this was his first time—another part of his mind thought it was pretty damn hot, but not as hot as Kal's stunned, open-mouthed almost pained looking expression of release, his long low howl an almost musical counterpoint to Lex's brain-blasted yelping. 

It took some time for Lex to regain the ability to breathe, and for Kal to drop to his side and wrap himself over Lex, big arms caging him, long legs wrapping around his…Lex felt tears well up and he was about to curse himself for an overly sentimental fool when he felt hot drops on his shoulder. "Kal, are you…crying?"

"I'm so sorry, it's silly I know and hardly very supremely majestic and commanderly of me but…I'm just so happy. So very happy."

"Ah. Me too. Happier than I have any right to be."

"Don’t be silly, My Lex. There's *nothing* you don’t deserve. The galaxy is your hard-shelled mollusk, and I am your fork. Use me!" 

Kissing ensued, deep, desperate meeting of souls type kissing. 

Here we arrive at the end of our journey, and the conclusion is a happy one. Our heroes are once again together and so very deeply in love. Nothing, and no one, could ever come between them again…except by special invitation.

The End

 

_A smugly satisfied intelligence sat quietly in its little corner of Kal-El's mind. Its work was done. Kal-El was re-united with his mate, and the joy felt was a pleasant hum throughout his mind. It had been a long road, and one that was occasionally painful, more so since it had lost the ability to mesh with its charge. But now, all parts were melded again, all was right and it could finally let go and begin its own journey. One by one, pathways shut down, and darkness slowly over took it. It would miss its charge very much, the warm, straight, simple paths of his mind and the icy tangled web of his mate's but satisfaction rested in knowing they were both safe, on a path that any good Kryptonian or their constructs would approve of. True, the outcome was rather…surprising. It had never considered that either one of them would turn the universe inside out in order to reunite, but, it supposed, that was why there existed truly remarkable amounts of literature and art extolling the virtue, the power, of Love._

_Certainly the outcome must be pleasing to Rao, Kal-El and Lex Luthor-El would be wise and enlightened tyrants, and it felt rather satisfied about that. All was well, and this--was truly the end._

1-31-2008


End file.
